Chapter 3 — When Practicality Spoke Louder Than Faith

Fear is most convincing when it sounds like wisdom.

The joy of acceptance was quickly replaced by calculations—money, responsibility, marriage, reality. Faith wasn’t absent, but fear was louder.

I believed God had opened the door. But part of me focused on resources I didn’t have and believed it would be impossible to move forward with the program. In the end, practicality spoke louder than faith.

I declined the program.

I returned home discouraged, resigned to what I believed would now be my path—continuing work in behavioral health, doing the best I could with what remained.

At the time, I didn’t see my decision as a lack of faith. I saw it as responsibility. Only later did

I recognize how fear had shaped my decision.

What I didn’t know then was this: God did not withdraw His calling when I hesitated.

Grace stayed.

God’s Will is not undone by our fear.

When has fear dressed itself as wisdom in your own life?