How To Discern God's BEST for You When Making BIG Decisions // Discernment Series (Part 5) Artwork

THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE with Danica & Autumn

We're two sisters adventuring with the Holy Spirit – and the more laughs along the way, the better! Whether you realize it or not, once you have the AUDACITY to say YES to Jesus, you're embarking on THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE -- a lifelong journey with the Holy Spirit as your guide. It's the threefold adventure of knowing God intimately through His Word and your experiences with Him, knowing your true self through the work of the Holy Spirit, and then making Jesus and His love known to the world. ABOUT US: DANICA CHILDS is a Spiritual Director with a MA in Spiritual Formation/Soul Care from Talbot Seminary and a MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Her sister AUTUMN is a storyteller passionate about the spiritual gifts and creating with the Holy Spirit. We’re sisters who've spent a combined forty years in various forms of ministry, including co-planting a church in Hollywood with other families, where we served in a variety of leadership roles for around a decade. Later we began THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE as a Los Angeles based ministry in 2016. We daily pursue creative, artistic, messy, and joyful lives of adventure in Southern California with our family and friends!

We can be found at theaudaciousadventure.com, and on Instagram and YouTube at @theaudaciousadventure. Now, let the adventures begin!

All Episodes

THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE with Danica & Autumn

How To Discern God's BEST for You When Making BIG Decisions // Discernment Series (Part 5)

February 03, 2023 • Danica Childs • Episode 7

So you are about to decide between two EQUALLY good opportunities. How do you discern which "good" is God's BEST for you? Good question! Today, we walk you through a big decision Autumn and her husband had to make, pausing to highlight the discernment required for each step along the way. We also discuss CONSOLATION and DESOLATION and what part they play in discernment. The second half of the show is devoted to tips, suggestions, and exercises to help YOU discern clearly when making a big decision. Issues covered include: peace, lack of peace, red flags, head and heart alignment, and extrapolation.

CONSOLATION AND DESOLATION IN DISCERNMENT:
We are not alone in our discerning. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is active within us drawing our attention to various internal affective states called consolation and desolation. AFFECTIVE consolation is when we experience deep feelings of resonance, well-being, peace, joy, faith, hope, and love among others; and affective desolation is when we have deep feelings of dissonance, unease, distress, anxiety, fear, hopelessness, despair, etc. The direction our affective feelings take us is called VOLITIONAL consolation or desolation. When we’re moving toward God, we are experiencing volitional consolation and when we’re moving away from God that is volitional desolation. When attempting to discern we don’t want to be making decisions in affective or volitional desolation. These are not surface level feelings that we might feel in the ups and downs of a normal day, but rather deeper currents that run underneath the surface.

*The book Danica referenced in this episode is The Discerning Heart: Exploring the Christian Path by Wilkie Au https://amzn.to/3JEe4wK

*Also, check out Larry Warner's book on discernment, which we highly recommend and reference throughout this series: Discernment, God's Will & Living Jesus: Christian Discernment as a Way of Life https://amzn.to/3X2oLMk

ABOUT US:
DANICA CHILDS is a Spiritual Director with a MA in Spiritual Formation/Soul Care from Talbot Seminary and a MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Her sister AUTUMN is a storyteller passionate about the spiritual gifts and creating with the Holy Spirit. We’re sisters who've spent a combined forty years in various forms of ministry, including co-planting a church in Hollywood with other families, where we served in a variety of leadership roles for around a decade. Later we began THE AUDACIOUS ADVENTURE as a Los Angeles based ministry in 2016. We daily pursue creative, artistic, messy, and joyful lives of adventure in Southern California with our family and friends!

"We're excited to adventure audaciously with YOU!"