EP4: The Fear You've Been Calling Wisdom

It sounds like discernment. It sounds like patience. It sounds like trusting God's timing. But in Episode 4, host Jessica Mackey names the thing that has been masquerading as wisdom in your business — fear. Drawing from her own story of disguising fear as spiritual caution, and from the patterns she has witnessed across countless entrepreneurs, Jessica names the three fears most likely to hold a faith-driven founder hostage: the fear of being seen, the fear of the cost, and the fear of being wrong. This episode is surgical, scriptural, and it will give you one question that changes everything.

Transcript

Fear as Wisdom: The Audacity Room Ep. 4

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I want to name something today. Something that sounds holy. Something that sounds like discernment. Something that sounds like patience and wisdom and trusting God's timing. But it is actually fear. Welcome to the Audacity Room. I'm Jessica Mackie. And today we're pulling the mask off. This is the fear you've been calling wisdom.

Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Father, we need you in this room today in a very, very specific way. We need the gift of discernment, not to discern the enemy's scheme, but to discern our own. God, there is someone listening right now who has been using your name to justify their dilemma. Who has been dressing their fear in the language of faith? Who keeps saying, I am waiting on God, when the truth is God has already spoken and they are afraid to move. We are not here to shame that person today. We are here to free them. So God, do the surgical work only you can do. Separate the fear from the faith. Call the thing what it is, and then give them the audacity to move anyway. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Welcome & Episode Recap

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Oh my gosh. Welcome, Ben. Welcome on in. Okay, here's where we have been in this room. Episode one, the assignment of your life is not optional. Episode two, obedience is the offering, not the down payment. Episode three, you cannot execute a vision you never wrote down. And now, episode four, because here's what I've noticed across every conversation, every coaching session, every DM from an entrepreneur sitting on their assignment. They are not stuck. They are not stuck because they do not know what God said. They are not stuck because they have no strategy. They are not stuck because the timing is wrong. They are stuck because they are afraid. And they have gotten very, very good at making fear sound like wisdom. Okay. Now let me tell you about the season I spent disguising my fear as discernment. God

Jessica's Personal Story

SPEAKER_00 2:35

had given me clear direction. Not a nudge, not a whisper. I could talk myself out of. No, no, no. A clear, specific, undeniable instruction about what to build next. And I did not move. I did not build. But here's the thing. I I had reasons. Like I had solid, like, no, I just I had very, very, very good reasons, very spiritual sounding reasons. I I said, I'm I'm waiting for clarity. Obviously. I I said I I want to make sure this is really God. This is a God thing, and it's not me. I I said the timing, the timing, and the timing doesn't feel right yet, you know. I I said I need to pray about it a little a little longer. It means pray about it. Every single one of those sentence sound mature when I said them. Sounds humble. It's it sounds like a good theology. Every single one of them was a lie. Because the truth, the one, the one I did not want to say out loud was that I was terrified. Terrified of being seen, terrified of being wrong, terrified of what it would cost me to say yes again. And I had taken all of that terror because it was a lot of terror. You guys don't know how terrified it was. It was terrifying. And I wrapped it into scripture, I covered it in prayer language, giving it a spiritual sounding name. And I call I called it wisdom. But God, God did not let me stay there, He didn't chain me, He He didn't shout. You know, He's always good at asking me a question. If you were not afraid, would you already be moving? Of course I knew the answer before I even finished hearing the question. Yes, duh, certainly. Sign me up, me, me, me. Sure can do. Do do do. I would already be moving. The waiting was not wisdom, the waiting was fear with the prayer over it. And the moment I called it what it was, something broke loose. Not because the fear disappeared, because I stopped letting the fear vote. Fear does not get a vote in an assignment God already signed off on. And I want to tell you, well, now I'm gonna tell you, it wasn't just me. I wasn't the only one who was feeling this. I have sat across from or even had conversations with more entrepreneurs than I can count, who were doing the same exact thing, the same thing that I had done, carrying a clear assignment from God, wrapping it in every convincing story about why now was not the time. I've watched a woman spend three years getting ready to launch a business God gave her in a single afternoon. Three years, three years of courses she took, and three years of research, three years of preparation, and none of it was wrong. I'm not saying the thing she did was incorrect, that it didn't help, but it was all fear. Obviously, no one could. So he kept writing. I've watched people pray about things God already answered, like seeking counsel about things God already confirmed, waiting for signs and wonders about things God already revealed. None of those people were lazy, none of them were faithless, they were afraid, and they were very, very good at not calling it that.

The Three Fears

SPEAKER_00 7:14

So I want to name the three fears I see most often in faith-driven entrepreneurs. Three fears, three masks they wear, and three ways God's word calls them out. And I need you to listen with honesty because one of these, and maybe more than one, is going to sound a lot like your life.

Fear #1: Fear of Being Seen

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Fear one. The fear of being seen. The mask that it wears could sound like I just want to make sure the work is excellent before I put it out. Or I'm not really a public person, very private, have a very private life, or I don't want to be out front, I just want to serve. Now, don't get me wrong, excellence matters, servanthood is holy, humility is a fruit of the spirit. But let me ask you something. If no one was watching, if there was no judgment, no criticism, no one to disappoint, would you still be waiting? Or would you already be out there? The fear of being seen dresses itself as humility, but humility does not hide the gifts God gave you. Humility uses them quietly and then trusts God with the visibility. You are not given a vision to protect it from the world, you were given a vision to release it into the world. Matthew chapter 5, verse 15 says, Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. God did not light you up so you could hide. Visibility is not vanity, it is stewardship. Let's

Fear #2: Fear of the Cost

SPEAKER_00 9:23

keep moving. Fear too, the fear of the cost. The mask that it wears could sound like I need to be a good steward. I can't just leap out without a plan. Or I have a family to think about, I can't be irresponsible. Or the timing isn't right financially. And here's where I want to be careful because stewardship is real, responsibility is real. Counting the cost is biblical. Jesus said in Luke 14, before you build a tower, count the cost. That is a real instruction. Strategic thinking is not faithless, but there is a difference between counting the cost and letting the cost count you out. Counting the cost means I see what this will require and I'm committing anyway. Letting the cost count you out means I see what this will require, and I'm finding a reason not to go. The fear of the cost says I cannot afford to obey. But the truth is you cannot afford not to. Because the cost of delayed obedience is not just lost time, it's lost impact, it's lost momentum, lost fruit that should have been growing for years. Luke 14, 28. Let's go there. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? Jesus said count the cost. He did not say abandon the tower if the cost is high. God never calls you to do something he has not already resourced. The provision will follow the obedience. Today, God never calls you to something he has not already resourced. The provision follows the obedience. Yeah. The provision follows the obedience. Fear

Fear #3: Fear of Being Wrong

SPEAKER_00 11:41

three, the fear of being wrong. The mask it wears can sound like I just want to make sure I'm really hearing God and not myself, or I'm still seeking clarity, or I don't want to move in my own street. And again, testing the spirit is real, seeking counsel is wise. Humility before God is essential. But I want to ask you a direct question: How long have you been seeking clarity on this particular thing? Was it weeks? Was it months? Was it years? At what point does continued seeking become a way of avoiding the answer you already received? Because here is the truth of what I know, something I know to be true. God is not a God of confusion. If he gave you the vision, he is not hiding the confirmation. And if you have been praying about the same thing for three years, you do not have a clarity problem. You have a courage problem. And the fear of being wrong keeps you in a perpetual preparation mode. Always getting ready, never quite starting. Because if you never start, you can never be wrong. And if you can never be wrong, you can never feel that specific kind of failure. But here is what that fear costs you. You also can never be right. You can never build, never bear fruit, never know what God could do through a surrender. Yes. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That spirit of fear is not from God. Which means when fear is making the decisions, God is not in the driver's seat. You do not need more clarity, you need more courage. The God who called you is faithful enough to correct you. Trust Him with the imperfect yes.

The Key Question

SPEAKER_00 14:00

So here's a question God asked me. And the one I now ask every entrepreneur I work with, and you can ask it about anything, especially anything you've been delaying. If you were not afraid, would I already be moving? If the answer is yes, you do not have a wisdom issue. You have a fear issue. Dressed in wisdom's clothes. And now that you know what it is, you can stop negotiating with it. Fear does not deserve a seat at the table of your assignment. It was never invited, it showed up on its own. And it is time to escort it out. You are not waiting on God. God is waiting. God is waiting on you. Now

Scripture: The Complete Case

SPEAKER_00 15:08

let's let the word have the final say on this. Three verses, a complete case. 2 Timothy, 1st chapter, verse 7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Fear is not a fruit of the spirit. Power is, love is, a sound mind is, which means when fear is your primary counselor, you are not operating in the spirit, you are operating in the flesh, and the flesh will always vote against the assignment. Let's continue. Joshua chapter 1, verse 9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Notice that God does not say courage will come when the fear leaves. He says, Be courageous in the presence of the fear. Courage is not the absence of the fear, courage is the obedience in spite of it. Isaiah chapter 41, verse 10. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. You see, it does not say I will remove the difficulty, so you will not need to be afraid. He says, I will uphold you. The fear may still be present, the obstacle may still be real, but you are held by a hand that has never once lost a grip. You do not move because the fear is gone. You move because he is with you, he will uphold you.

Activation & Call to Action

SPEAKER_00 17:24

So here's your activation for today. I'm not going to soften it. I want you to name the thing. The specific assignment, the vision, the launch, the step or decision that you have been delaying and calling wisdom. Write it down in one sentence. The thing God told you to do that you have not done yet. Then write beside it the real reason, not the spiritual sounding reason, the real one. The one you don't even want to say out loud. I am afraid of being seen. I am afraid of what it will cost me. I'm afraid of failing. I'm afraid of getting it wrong. Name it. Name it out loud. Because fear loses power the moment you stop letting it operate anonymously. And then today, take one step. Not the whole plan, not the launch, not the full commitment. Just one step. One step that only a person with courage could take. One step that tells fear, you do not have a vote here. A simple assignment. Write the delayed assignment in one sentence. Name the real fear beside it. Is it seeing? Is it being the cost? Is it is it is it being wrong? Is it failing? Then take one courageous step today. The kind fear would have taught you out of yesterday. Do it anyway. The room you are building will not build itself. The people you are meant to serve are waiting, and every day you spend in the costume of wisdom is a day they go without what God sent you to give them. This is not a burden to crush you. I pray it's the reason you move. The assignment is waiting. The room is open, and fear does not live here.

Outro & Next Episode

SPEAKER_00 19:57

First, if this episode convicted you that is the Holy Spirit doing his job, sit with it. Let it do its full work, then move. And if you know someone who needs to hear this, someone who has been waiting on God a little too long, share this episode with them. Not as a call out, as a gift. The kind of gift that comes from someone who believes in what they are capable of. Second, subscribe to the Audacity Room so you never miss an episode. You have now heard four episodes. You have an assignment, you have written the vision, you have called the fear what it is. So what's next? Episode five, of course. We're gonna talk about building in public, how to launch before you feel ready, how to let the building be the testimony, how to stop waiting for the finished product before you invite people into the process. It is gonna be practical, prophetic, and it's gonna give you permission you did not know you needed. And third, if you are on Apple Podcasts, leave a review. Every review helps someone else find their way into this room. And this room was built for them too. Four episodes in, you showed up every single week. That is not nothing. That is Audacity. I'm proud of you. Now go move. Subscribe, leave a review, and come find the community at the Audacity Room. And as you leave this room today, I want to speak something directly over the fear you named today. It does not have a vote, it does not have authority, it does not get to decide what gets built and what stays silent. You were called before you were born, you were equipped before you were ready, and you are held by a God who has never once released his grip on an assignment he authored. So name the fear. Call it out. And then anyway, I'll see you next week inside the Not in Fear. You don't need all the answers, just the courage to trust God.