Fearless Career Change: How Faith, Courage, and Clarity Lead to Your Next Step S5E10

If you feel God nudging you toward a new path but fear is louder than your faith, or if you are waiting for a guarantee before you take the first step, this episode is for you.

Today, I am sharing a special message from my recent visioneering workshop for the Discovering Your Calling alumni. We explore three specific Bible stories that reveal a hard truth: often, the miracle only happens after you take the risky step.

I discuss why we often hesitate to act because we do not want to look foolish or fail. We look at the stories of Joshua and the widow to see why obedience often defies logic, and why your "jar of oil" is already enough to start.

You’ll learn:

✓ The "Flood Stage" Faith: Why you must step into the water before the river stops flowing (Joshua 3). 

✓ The "Jericho Strategy": How to move forward even when the plan seems illogical or embarrassing to others. 

✓ The "Empty Jar" Lesson: Why you need to ask for help and use the resources you already have right now. 

✓ The Art of "Shutting the Door": How to block out distractions to focus entirely on your assignment. 

✓ Reframing Success: Why God meets obedient action rather than waiting for perfect faith.

Mentioned in this episode:

2026 Career Change Quiz Feeling successful but quietly restless? Take this short quiz (carefully curated by a career coach) to evaluate what kind of career change (if any) actually makes sense for you right now. TAKE THE QUIZ

Checked all the boxes of success but still feel like something’s missing? My new book, Discovering Your Calling, is a guide for ambitious women ready to stop drifting and build a life of true fulfillment and joy. Your calling is waiting.

✨ Get your copy of the Discovering Your Calling book today!   Your calling is waiting! 

Transcript

[01:00:02:19 - 01:00:21:18]
Speaker 1
 Hey friend, have you ever felt like God was nudging you towards something? And you wanted to say yes, but fear was louder. Maybe you feel that right now. You know you were being called to step into your true calling, but that fear, the doubt, and the unknown are holding you back.

[01:00:22:22 - 01:00:37:16]
Speaker 1
 Not because you don't trust God, but because you don't want to look foolish, you don't want to fail, and you don't want to get it wrong. And maybe also because you're waiting for that right time to begin.

[01:00:39:16 - 01:00:45:20]
Speaker 1
 So I recently held a visioneering and goal setting workshop for my Discovering Your Calling alumni.

[01:00:47:00 - 01:01:19:15]
Speaker 1
 And this was not your normal goal setting workshop. It was really about getting to really about peeling back the layers and the things and talking about reframing what achievement and success really look like. My goal for this workshop was that all of us would step into 2026 with more peace and more clarity, and that we would know where we're headed, but also know what daily action steps would get us there.

[01:01:20:18 - 01:01:26:03]
Speaker 1
 We also talked about what could or was keeping us stuck.

[01:01:27:08 - 01:01:46:17]
Speaker 1
 And in this workshop, I introduced three inspiring Bible stories. And they're all different scenarios, but they all have the same outcome. In each story, God only moved or perhaps created a miracle after someone took action.

[01:01:48:03 - 01:02:07:21]
Speaker 1
 And this is a message that we see over and over and over again in Scripture. But today, I really want to hone in on these three stories with you, because I think they'll help you see why in order to live out your true calling, you need to be willing to trust, maybe look a little foolish and sometimes ask for guidance.

[01:02:09:07 - 01:02:15:05]
Speaker 1
 So the first Bible story that we're going to talk about, we are on the bank of the Jordan River.

[01:02:16:07 - 01:02:24:22]
Speaker 1
 And this comes from Joshua 3 verse 15 through 16. Or chapter, I'm sorry, Joshua 3, 15 through 16. Yes, I said that right.

[01:02:26:03 - 01:02:51:16]
Speaker 1
 Anyway, Joshua is leading the Israelites to the land God promised them. And they've arrived at the Jordan River. And here's where it gets interesting, because God instructed the priest through Joshua that they would need to step into the water and then the waters would stop flowing so that everyone could cross safely.

[01:02:52:21 - 01:03:02:00]
Speaker 1
 But here's what you need to know. Not only did they have to step into this water, but that river, the Jordan River at that time was at flood stage.

[01:03:03:04 - 01:03:18:09]
Speaker 1
 Now, I don't know if you've ever seen a river at flood stage, but as a boater, I definitely have. And I know for a fact that when the water is at flood stage or like high tide, it's fast, it's furious, and it's dangerous.

[01:03:19:19 - 01:03:27:07]
Speaker 1
 And I can't even imagine, can you stepping in first and then trusting that God's going to do something?

[01:03:28:16 - 01:03:43:03]
Speaker 1
 I mean, honestly, I think I'd be negotiating with God right then and there and saying, OK, God, I get it. I'm willing. But can we just wait maybe a few more days, let the water go down a little bit so it isn't quite so risky?

[01:03:44:15 - 01:03:54:12]
Speaker 1
 So what about you? You know, when we bring this to a practical look at our life today, what step have you been avoiding out of fear?

[01:03:56:07 - 01:04:00:09]
Speaker 1
 Where is God calling you to step into the water?

[01:04:01:17 - 01:04:03:22]
Speaker 1
 Probably figuratively, not literally.

[01:04:05:19 - 01:04:13:00]
Speaker 1
 What is it that you're saying no to that you know you should be doing even if it feels scary, even if it feels risky?

[01:04:14:04 - 01:04:30:10]
Speaker 1
 Because sometimes it's just making a decision or moving toward the goal that you feel called to do, be, have when it feels scary, that we need to make that first step. We have to do that before God does his part.

[01:04:31:12 - 01:04:41:14]
Speaker 1
 You know, for you, maybe it's just putting a date on the calendar of when you're actually going to start that new business, that business that been on your heart and soul for a few years now,

[01:04:42:14 - 01:04:56:12]
Speaker 1
 or maybe it's when are you going to give your two weeks notice and quit that job that you've outgrown so that you can step into the career that's calling you to do it, that's calling for you to step into.

[01:04:57:19 - 01:05:02:04]
Speaker 1
 So what is that step into the water for you right now?

[01:05:03:10 - 01:05:11:23]
Speaker 1
 And yes, maybe it feels risky and maybe there is no guarantee, but we have to trust that if we step first, the miracle will happen.

[01:05:14:11 - 01:05:23:07]
Speaker 1
 The next story I want to share is still with Joshua. So they've made it through the river and they've crossed the lands and now they're outside of the city of Jericho.

[01:05:24:15 - 01:05:59:05]
Speaker 1
 And in Joshua chapter six, God tells, tells him that he's going to hand over Jericho, but first, but first, this is the crazy one. They must march around the city once a day for six days. And then on the seventh day, they must march seven times. Then they're to blow their trumpets and shout. And when they do this, the walls of Jericho will fall and they'll be able to go in and take over the city as promised.

[01:06:00:05 - 01:06:17:02]
Speaker 1
 Now talk about a weird business plan. And again, if I'm being honest, if God gave me that plan, I said, okay, Sherry, you can have all this, but I want you to go march around the city six times, then seven times on the seventh day and blow your trumpets and shout.

[01:06:18:05 - 01:06:29:20]
Speaker 1
 I'd probably be asking God to give me a different strategy because I'd feel like I'd be looking foolish. It would be embarrassing and it just doesn't make sense.

[01:06:30:22 - 01:06:36:04]
Speaker 1
 And, you know, sometimes that's where we are. We're worried about looking foolish.

[01:06:37:17 - 01:06:41:03]
Speaker 1
 Maybe just by talking about our new passion,

[01:06:42:08 - 01:06:53:02]
Speaker 1
 you know, we're worried about what someone else is going to think. What are our friends going to say when we start posting on social media about this new thing that we're excited about doing?

[01:06:55:08 - 01:07:05:07]
Speaker 1
 Or we're worried about going to that, you know, chamber of commerce meeting and handing out our new business card and talking about this thing that you finally started.

[01:07:08:15 - 01:07:12:13]
Speaker 1
 We can't look as foolish as they did marching around the city.

[01:07:14:05 - 01:07:42:14]
Speaker 1
 So again, what is that thing that you know you should start doing in order to start living out your calling? But yet you feel embarrassed, you feel foolish. You're like, what, what would everybody think? Think back to Joshua and marching around the city because God didn't let them take over the city until they followed his command. It didn't make sense. It was kind of foolish, but they did it anyway.

[01:07:44:19 - 01:07:56:01]
Speaker 1
 Then our last story I want to share is about the widow whose husband had died and left her in debt and the creditors were about to take her sons as slaves.

[01:07:57:10 - 01:08:01:16]
Speaker 1
 And the prophet Elisha asked her, what do you have?

[01:08:02:23 - 01:08:05:12]
Speaker 1
 And she replies only a little oil.

[01:08:06:22 - 01:08:20:07]
Speaker 1
 So he tells her to go gather empty jars from the neighbors and he does make sure that he says, don't ask for just a few. He wants her to get a lot, to get as many as possible.

[01:08:21:09 - 01:08:27:00]
Speaker 1
 Then he says, go inside, shut the door and start pouring.

[01:08:29:01 - 01:08:32:06]
Speaker 1
 Now, again, if this was me and that was what I was commanded,

[01:08:33:12 - 01:08:37:18]
Speaker 1
 I would probably be thinking like, oh, but this is the last of my oil.

[01:08:38:20 - 01:08:43:14]
Speaker 1
 You know, how am I going to light my lamps tonight if this land doesn't work?

[01:08:44:15 - 01:08:46:01]
Speaker 1
 Again, questioning everything.

[01:08:47:23 - 01:08:52:05]
Speaker 1
 It's the last of my resources and I would have those doubts and fears.

[01:08:53:06 - 01:08:59:20]
Speaker 1
 But the widow didn't do that. She didn't say that. She was obedient and she took action.

[01:09:00:23 - 01:09:20:00]
Speaker 1
 Now, we don't know how many jars she filled. We only know that the oil flowed until there were no more jars and that it was enough to not only pay her debt, but to actually live on. And I presume that that meant the rest of her life for her and her boys.

[01:09:21:13 - 01:09:36:12]
Speaker 1
 So like Joshua though, this widow had to act first. She also had to ask for help. She had to ask for help first from Elisha and then from her neighbors going around knocking on their door, asking them for their jars.

[01:09:37:19 - 01:09:44:14]
Speaker 1
 And she also had to be willing to invest the last of her resources, the last of her oil.

[01:09:46:04 - 01:09:54:08]
Speaker 1
 So my friend, what help have you been avoiding asking for? Where do you need to ask for help right now?

[01:09:55:10 - 01:10:02:06]
Speaker 1
 Or maybe it's what resources is God asking you to use so that you can step into your true calling?

[01:10:04:01 - 01:10:09:09]
Speaker 1
 Do you need to hire a coach for help? Do you finally need to invest in that course you've been looking at?

[01:10:10:10 - 01:10:15:10]
Speaker 1
 Maybe you just need to ask your friends to test out your idea and support your new dream.

[01:10:16:19 - 01:10:28:03]
Speaker 1
 Or maybe you need to treat someone to coffee who's living out the career field that you want to try and ask them to mentor you or even just pick their brain.

[01:10:30:13 - 01:10:53:13]
Speaker 1
 So maybe it's a simple step like one of my Discover and You're Calling Academy students. She hired a house cleaner recently so that she could use her time more efficiently and use that time that she would have spent cleaning her house now building her side business because she's still working a full-time job. So that's how she's choosing to use her resources and where she chose to ask for help.

[01:10:54:22 - 01:11:04:07]
Speaker 1
 Now one more thing about this story that's worth noting and could be very easy to skip over. But Elisha also told her to shut the door.

[01:11:05:11 - 01:11:13:13]
Speaker 1
 Which I'm guessing that helped her from getting distracted by the outside world so that she could concentrate on her called assignment.

[01:11:14:15 - 01:11:25:10]
Speaker 1
 So I don't want us to lose focus on that piece of it too. She not only obeyed, she used her resources, she asked for help, but she shut the door so that she didn't get distracted from the outside world.

[01:11:26:10 - 01:11:28:06]
Speaker 1
 So many great lessons in that one.

[01:11:30:06 - 01:11:34:05]
Speaker 1
 So where are you being asked to step out in faith?

[01:11:35:15 - 01:11:43:15]
Speaker 1
 Is it like out the Jordan River stepping into something scary even if the timing doesn't seem right?

[01:11:45:08 - 01:11:55:04]
Speaker 1
 Or are you calling to be like the marching around Jericho follow a plan that doesn't maybe make sense that where maybe yeah, you might look a little foolish.

[01:11:56:19 - 01:12:01:18]
Speaker 1
 And your friends may not understand what it is you're trying to build. Do it anyway.

[01:12:03:06 - 01:12:10:13]
Speaker 1
 Or maybe right now you're being called to be like the widow and use the resources you have and ask for help.

[01:12:12:07 - 01:12:21:16]
Speaker 1
 Whatever it is, this is the key point my friend is that God doesn't wait for perfect faith. He meets obedient action.

[01:12:23:21 - 01:12:29:02]
Speaker 1
 And I get it. We know this in our hearts and then fear takes over.

[01:12:30:08 - 01:12:31:17]
Speaker 1
 We worry about looking foolish.

[01:12:32:21 - 01:12:39:15]
Speaker 1
 We feel like we have to explain ourselves. What if this doesn't work? We compare ourselves. We wait for certainty.

[01:12:41:01 - 01:12:42:21]
Speaker 1
 And I got to admit again.

[01:12:44:04 - 01:12:57:05]
Speaker 1
 Sometimes my prayers sound less like bold faith and more like okay, God, I trust you. But also can you guarantee this first? Is this really what I should be doing? I question. I doubt.

[01:12:58:10 - 01:13:29:00]
Speaker 1
 And what would happen if we you and I acted more like Joshua and his friends and the widow? What if this year we commit to listening for what God is whispering to us? Because usually it's a whisper. It's not a loud shout. It's a whisper where he comes through and he says things through other people. What is he saying to you? And what is he saying to me even this is for all of us. And then we just take action. What if we don't question?

[01:13:30:12 - 01:13:48:12]
Speaker 1
 And then we do it over and over and over again until we finally step into our true calling and we're living the life that only God can imagine for us that God has in store for us. What would that look like? How amazing would that feel?

[01:13:51:03 - 01:13:56:10]
Speaker 1
 And again, I understand it. And you might be sitting here thinking, yeah, Sherry, that sounds great.

[01:13:57:15 - 01:14:06:17]
Speaker 1
 But I don't have enough. I'm like that widow or I don't know. It really doesn't feel like the right time or the cost is too high.

[01:14:08:03 - 01:14:11:17]
Speaker 1
 Or maybe like in Jericho. It just doesn't make sense to do this.

[01:14:13:08 - 01:14:16:05]
Speaker 1
 You know, everyone with a bigger calling goes through this.

[01:14:17:09 - 01:14:23:07]
Speaker 1
 The difference is the ones who step into their calling take action anyway.

[01:14:25:23 - 01:14:31:01]
Speaker 1
 So as we close, I want to ask you again, what's your river? Where do you need to step into?

[01:14:32:15 - 01:14:37:10]
Speaker 1
 What's your jar of oil? What resources do you need to use or where do you need to ask for help?

[01:14:38:11 - 01:14:43:03]
Speaker 1
 Or what's your march? What do you need to do that might, yes, look a little foolish?

[01:14:45:12 - 01:14:47:14]
Speaker 1
 But your promise so much more when you do that.

[01:14:51:23 - 01:15:05:23]
Speaker 1
 And I want to close here because if you've been listening to this and you're thinking, all right, Sherry, you're right. I know I'm supposed to move. I just I'm not sure what my next step is.

[01:15:07:04 - 01:15:22:10]
Speaker 1
 I have created something for you. You've probably heard me talking about it. It's our new short career quiz or 2026 career quiz. And it's going to help you understand what season you're in right now for work in life.

[01:15:23:14 - 01:15:36:19]
Speaker 1
 And it's also going to help you figure out what kind of move actually makes sense right now for you. And there's no pressure and I promise there's no request to walk into the river or march around the cities.

[01:15:37:21 - 01:15:39:12]
Speaker 1
 What it will give you though is clarity.

[01:15:40:13 - 01:15:58:08]
Speaker 1
 And some real action steps that you can start to take today and just head over to SherryMiterCo.com forward slash career quiz or it's in the show notes. Take the quiz and just see where it lands. See if it aligns with what you know, you're being called to do anyway.

[01:16:00:06 - 01:16:45:09]
Speaker 1
 And then join me back here in two weeks. We're now doing to a month podcast plus occasional guest episodes with another message from the same workshop and in that one we're going to talk about what do I mean by season of work in life you're in and we'll dive deeper into what capacity do you really have in the season of life you're in right now and how to let go of the guilt while you build your true calling. So I look forward to that episode but in the meanwhile always feel free to reach out to me and let me know again. What is your River? What is your jar of oil or what's your March look like right now? I would love to hear from you. You can always find me in the DMS on Facebook or LinkedIn.