Stepping Out in Fear: Trusting God Beyond Your Comfort Zone with David Knapp

Written By Cassidyy Atkins

What happens when God calls you to leave what is comfortable before you can see exactly where He is leading you? In this episode of You Are More, I sit down with David Knapp, creator and host of On the Pen, for a conversation that is deeply personal to me.

I have been cheering David on for years. His father, Ron Knapp, had a profound impact on my life during some of my most formative years. He was my high school youth director and Sunday school teacher, and his passion for Jesus helped shape my faith in a significant way.

Today, I have the privilege of watching that same faithfulness continue through David.

David is now one of the leading patient advocates and independent voices in the GLP-1 space. Through On the Pen, he helps people understand the science, research, insurance developments, medication shortages, patient-access issues, and rapidly changing information surrounding GLP-1 medications.

But his journey did not begin with a medical degree, a carefully mapped-out media strategy, or a plan to build one of the top podcasts in the world.

It began with his own health.

After years of struggling with obesity, David was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. He committed to following a ketogenic diet and successfully lowered his A1C, but his weight barely changed. When bariatric surgery was presented as the next possible step, an insurance issue unexpectedly closed that door and opened another.

David was introduced to a new medication called Mounjaro.

Because he wanted to understand anything he would be putting into his body, he began reading scientific research, medical literature, and FDA documents. He quickly realized that very few people were translating that complicated information into language patients could actually understand.

So he started talking about it.

At the time, almost no one knew what Ozempic was. David was still working in sales and marketing for a traffic-signal company, creating content wherever he could—including from inside his Ford Flex.

There was no guarantee that it would become a business. There was no promise that the podcast would grow. He simply felt called to share what he was learning and help people who needed trustworthy, understandable information.

That step of obedience eventually grew into On the Pen, a top-rated podcast and trusted platform reaching people across the country. It has brought opportunities David could never have planned, including major media coverage, sponsorships, industry relationships, and participation in a documentary about the rise of GLP-1 medications.

But this conversation is about much more than podcasting or professional success.

It is about what happens when God asks us to leave the familiar.

For David, one of the greatest obstacles was not a lack of ability. It was comfort.

He had a good job. He was good at what he did. He loved the company and believed God had opened that door for him. But even when he first accepted the position, he sensed that it was a stepping stone.

Ten years later, he was still standing on that stone.

David shares honestly about the internal conflict that came with leaving a secure career while providing for a wife and four children. What would happen if the podcast failed? How would he explain walking away from a good job if the new venture did not work?

Those fears were real, but they did not have the final say.

One of the most powerful distinctions David makes in this conversation is the difference between fear and cowardice. Fear is an emotion. Cowardice is allowing that fear to keep us from doing what we know we are supposed to do.

Sometimes we do not step forward because fear has disappeared. We step forward while fear is still present because we trust the God who called us.

That is what it means to step out in fear while still acting in faith.

David also shares an incredible story about purchasing a new studio for On the Pen. Just as everything appeared to be coming together, he learned that he would need approximately four times more money than expected to close on the property. Then, only days later, his largest podcast sponsor unexpectedly backed out.

The pressure was enormous.

After finishing a livestream one day, David sat in his office trying to determine how he would find roughly $40,000. Then someone knocked on the door.

It was his wife and their four children.

They knew he was carrying something heavy, so they came to pray.

Together, they gathered in that small office and reminded themselves that God was infinitely bigger than the problem in front of them. Within 24 hours, every dollar needed for the closing had been provided. Soon afterward, the lost sponsorship was also replaced.

But perhaps the greatest gift was not simply the financial provision. It was allowing their children to witness God’s faithfulness.

David and his wife are intentionally bringing their children into the journey. They are teaching them to pray boldly, trust God with real needs, and recognize His hand when He answers.

Our ceiling can become our children’s floor. The faith we build today can become the foundation from which the next generation begins.

We also talk about the importance of remembering.

When another giant appears, we must intentionally replay the highlight reel of God’s faithfulness:

“I was here, and You brought me here.”

“I faced this, and You carried me through.”

“You provided before, and You are still the same God today.”

David’s story is a reminder that the problem in front of us is no match for the God who has already brought us through so much.

If you are standing at the edge of something new, you may feel afraid. You may not know how everything will work. You may be tempted to interpret resistance as a sign that you should retreat.

But resistance is not always a stop sign. Sometimes it appears because what you are building will matter.

God often calls us away from what is familiar because He is too faithful to leave us confined to a space that can no longer hold our purpose. He knows the desires He placed inside us. He knows the gifts He gave us. He knows what He created us to fulfill.

The day you were born, you clocked into purpose.

There is no duplicate of you. God created you as an original and equipped you for an assignment that no one else can fulfill in exactly the same way. Your responsibility is to remain faithful, keep growing, and continue saying yes.

If God has called you forward, He is not asking you to control every outcome. He is asking you to trust Him with the next step.

Your fear may come with you—but it does not get to lead you.

Take the step. Send the email. Make the call. Begin the thing God has placed on your heart.

Then watch what He does with your obedience.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How David’s Type 2 diabetes diagnosis led him to GLP-1 advocacy• Why he began studying medical literature and explaining it to patients• The unexpected rise and impact of On the Pen• Leaving a comfortable career without knowing the outcome• Recognizing when a stepping stone has become a place of stagnation• The difference between experiencing fear and acting in cowardice• Why resistance does not always mean you are on the wrong path• Trusting God when finances and business plans suddenly change• How prayer carried David’s family through a $40,000 challenge• Teaching children to pray big and witness God’s provision• Remembering God’s past faithfulness when facing a new giant• Using influence and opportunity for the Kingdom• Believing that God is truly who He says He is

And as always, remember: you truly are more.

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Episode Minute By Minute:

  • 00:00 Welcome and Meet David Knapp

  • 02:02 Honoring the Legacy of David’s Father

  • 04:12 David’s Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis

  • 07:02 Why He Started Talking About GLP-1 Medications

  • 09:22 The Unexpected Growth of On the Pen

  • 12:06 Leaving the Comfort of a Successful Career

  • 15:10 Trusting God with an Uncertain Outcome

  • 18:34 Why God Calls Us Beyond the Familiar

  • 21:16 Knowing When It Was Time to Take the Leap

  • 24:24 How a Ten-Year Stepping Stone Prepared David

  • 27:08 Losing Funding and His Largest Podcast Sponsor

  • 30:12 A Family Prayer and a $40,000 Breakthrough

  • 33:16 Teaching His Children to Pray Big

  • 36:08 Remembering God’s Faithfulness

  • 39:14 Stepping Out in Fear Instead of Cowardice

  • 42:14 Do You Believe God Is Who He Says He Is?

  • 45:18 God Created You for a Unique Purpose

  • 47:32 Take the Next Step and Watch God Move

Cassidyy Atkins
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Train Your Mind to Win: Don't Let Your Circumstances Define You