If They Push Back, You Might Be On The Right Path

The hardest pushback often comes from the people closest to you—so what if that resistance is actually confirmation you’re on the right path?

In this episode of Unarmored Talk, I sit down with Rachel Singletary—minister, facilitator, and leader—to talk about what obedience really looks like when your calling demands growth, discipline, and time. We get honest about the refining process people don’t post—the part that humbles you, stretches you, and challenges your relationships.

Rachel breaks down why resistance often starts at home, how to stay grounded when people bring up your past, and why being “qualified” isn’t the requirement for your calling. We also discuss the power of silence—why “no answer is an answer,” and how staying calm protects your peace and purpose.

If you care about faith, purpose, leadership, and mental fitness, this conversation will meet you where you are.

👉 Where do you feel the most pushback right now?

Rachel's Links:
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lifedesignsbyracheljanielle
Website: rachelsingletary.carrd.co

Chapters:
0:05 – Welcome And Meet Rachel
1:18 – Her Call To Teach
4:20 – Obedience And The Refining Process
7:53 – Resistance From People Closest
10:24 – What’s Next: Outreach And Nations
12:04 – The Power Of Silence
16:09 – When Waiting Makes You Weary
19:24 – Self-Worth And How To Find Her

Transcript

Mario P. Fields 0:05

Welcome to Unarmored Talk, where we remove the armor, have real conversations, and strengthen how we think and respond to life. Everyone, we have an amazing guest today. I'm joined by the that's that's how I say it, the like the Ohio State, the Rachel Singletary. She's a pastor event manager. She's also United States Department of Labor Employment Facilitator. But she's a passionate leader who blends faith, strategy, and her heart. It's probably big as North Carolina to help people grow personally and professionally. Before we get to our amazing guests, I believe, and this is in my heart, that this conversation will encourage you and strengthen you in whatever life journey you are at today. Rachel Pastor, welcome to the Unarmed Talk Podcast.

Rachel Singletary 0:57

How are you doing? It is a pleasure to be here on this great day. Thank you so much for the invite. I'm pretty excited. I'm pretty excited.

Her Call To Teach

Mario P. Fields 1:06

Yes, same here. And she's a colleague of mine. So this is even more personal. I mean, this is cool. I mean, you know, just uh I've known Rachel for quite some time, you know, in our uh in our capacity as facilitators. And so this is great. Before we get to the main uh guests here in the topic, everyone again get on that YouTube channel. If you want to help me with my charitable efforts, you can become a member of uh the YouTube channel at every little dollar that you donate uh monthly. I think like 12 or 13 members, we'll uh go to Still Serving Incorporated. If you want to learn more about my uh nonprofit, that it will be eight years this year. Uh go to www.stillservinginc.com. Rachel, if you could do me a favor, if you can bless the listeners and viewers with a little bit about you.

Rachel Singletary 1:59

Yes. Oh, wow. Let me see. How much time will we have? No, I'm just jerking. Um, my name is Rachel Singletary, and let me see here. I have to say, um, Mr. Fields had introduced me as being a pastor, right? And I have learned to receive that as of right now. Right now, I am a minister of the gospel, but he is not the first one that has coined. It seems like everywhere I go, I get that introduction. So I said, Lord, I don't know if you prepare me for that, so I don't reject it. Um, I have I am a member of Fountain of Life Ministries in Havelock, North Carolina, um, with the great pastor Larry Taylor. And I am a mother, I am a facilitator, and I really enjoy what I do. But my bread and butter is teaching the word of God. Okay. That is where I am. It's like that is my life. And thinking back on where I am, I never thought in a million years that God will call me. And I say that I know a lot of people may say that, but really seriously, when he told me over some 10 years ago that he had commissioned me to teach, I was like, well, are you sure that you called the right first? Because at that time, nor was I mentally prepared as to what I needed to do to get to that point to even speak his word. But as you see, it was a considerable amount of time and training that I had to undergo to get me to where I am. So, like I say, I am excited about where God is taking. And I believe at a time as this, like the social economic climate as well as the natural climate, as on top of the spiritual, we really need to be in tune with what the Holy Spirit is saying. Because God says we're in the world, but we're not of it, but we are still in this natural world. So we still have to partake in the natural part of it, but at the same time, we need to be tapped into the spirit, and that comes with having a relationship. So that's just a little snip of who I am. It's so much more that could be told, but for the sake of time, that is what I have at the moment.

Mario P. Fields 4:20

You know, Rachel, and you said 10 years. So some people start a new year's resolution, uh, and they're done by the third week of January. So 10 years, you know, you receive this message from God, and you're going, who me? You want me? And and so now let's you know, we speed up as you're a minister of God's words, you know, 10 years later. But what what if what if you had to pick? What was one of your toughest challenges during this decade of being obedient to God?

Rachel Singletary 4:56

Uh, probably obedience, if I had to say so. And it's not that I was an outright rebellious child of his, I just didn't see how he saw worth in me to want to speak his word like that. Um, he could have chosen anyone because he's God. But I remember one time he showed me a vision when I was a little girl because my mom used to send me to the vacation Bible schools like every summer. They used to have them light clockwork. And I was to attend the Baptist church in the local area. And I remember him showing me a glimpse of me at around three or four years old, and he was there. So he showcased to me he's always been present. Right. Even in his word says, Before you were born, I foreknew you. So he already had a plan for me before I knew the plan. That's the beautiful part of it. It's nothing I could have done that could erase what he had intended for me as well as another servant of his, regardless if you're preaching or teaching or not, or just one of his children, he still has a plan and a purpose for you. But honestly, obedience, and I wasn't one of those hard-headed, stiff-necked individuals, but like I say, and seeing the worst, but I had to go through a sculpting phrase and you know, and getting that where I need to be, where I'm humble, um, type of individual. So when he tells you to do something, you don't rebuttal. So I believe that because you don't come out just ready to go, prepared to do. Nah, it's always a process. And that processing is not pretty lots of times. And that's the part people don't like to undergo. Like you said, they have the uh the resolutions, they quit by the third day in. When you walk in with Christ, no, no, no, no. Regardless, good, bad, or indifferent, how long it takes, this is a lifestyle, this is who you are, and it would just behoove you just to be compliant, you know, instead of fighting or kicking against the brick when they call it.

Resistance From People Closest

Mario P. Fields 6:57

Right. And and if you're watching this um at this moment, I'm gonna you'll see a link that will pop up um like right now, I'm pointing. So I'm gonna make sure that's in the video. And that link will send you to Rachel's YouTube channel where you guys can actually see her minister. And if you're listening, um the link will be in the show notes, you know. But and I love how you you you said, Rachel, you you know, it's not like you are a rebel, but but it's it's when that when that vision comes and you're going, you want me to do what? Yes, okay, I'm gonna do it, but how how the heck am I gonna do it? Was there any time during this process what you mentioned, and you and I have talked offline that it is not a beautiful process, if I'll use that word, or easy. There we go. During the process, have you had some surprises where where you people doubted your vision?

Rachel Singletary 7:53

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm gonna tell you something, also, friends, when God gives you a mission or he gives you an assignment. Now you notice in the word, he always gave it to one man or one woman. And then everybody else is not gonna understand. But the greatest type of resistance you will get is from the ones closest to you. The ones you don't think would be against you, those are the ones. Okay. Sometimes the ones in your own household. He said the prophet is without reward except for his own house, and that is so true, and that is a forewarning he gives to us. Um, everyone outside, oh, they're well received. Oh, wow, yeah, wow, that really blessed my soul. But the ones that you walk with every day, sometimes the ones you sleep beside every day, they be like, nah, and I don't believe nothing you're saying. Or I remember when you did this. Oh, wow, but I'm a new creature, but not to me. You're not new to me. I mean, you are who you are. So the greatest resistance, and that's how you know you're on the right track. When you get resistance from the ones that you love the most, that's how you know you've been called. That's how I qualify. Because remember, God don't call the qualifier, he qualifies to call. He calls you as ye as you come, but I guarantee it, all hell's gonna break loose, most likely in the home front. If you don't get it, you know, some testing in the home front, it may be in your body. But those ones that walk with you, those are tall tail signs that you are on the right track.

Mario P. Fields 9:26

He doesn't send the qualify, he qualifies the send the the chosen, and how does he do it? He's gonna test you. And like you said, Rachel, what what harder test to get to reveal your true character, obedience, and your faith is from folks that are right next to you, your wife, your husband, the children, puppies? I mean, you name it, the animals, you got it. All of them. It it and now so now you know you you've gone through the process. You you know, I've watched some of your your your ministry, you know, your time ministering to to amazing uh folks here. Um, has there been a moment where you said, okay, this 10-year journey, okay, God, I got it. The revelation has revealed itself. What's next? And remember, I said pastor, other folks have said pastor. So, and that was not by intentional design, maybe that's had some God doing. What do you believe is next?

Rachel Singletary 10:24

Really honestly, I believe with the continuous training and preparation, because we never fully reached the mark. And for anyone who says, you know, I've arrived, they're a lying. Um, honestly, I believe more outreach, because God has called me to the nations, is not just here, okay? Not just locally. I believe it would be regionally, nationally, maybe globally, to be honest. And I know one of the vastest ways that he's using a lot of the prophets nowadays is through technology. But I don't believe I may be limited to just that. I believe that he's my I'm gonna be, you know, mobile, to be honest. I don't know quite where because he has spoken in my spirit that I do need to sit for a while because there's something I need to do in this region right here. So I am obedient to that because I have been seeking the Lord on it. But the other day he told me one more year. So I said, okay, so it's a work that needs to be done here at the core here first. Then once that's done, then it will be able to vanish out a little bit more. But I do believe that uh as men call to the nations, because you can't sit and be remote and do that work effectively.

The Power Of Silence

Mario P. Fields 11:31

Yeah. I mean, you're already, I mean, and everyone, if you're a veteran listening or you're an active duty listening to this this episode, what I did not highlight is Rachel also impacts about 1.2 plus thousand service members and families transitioning annually. And so she's not just making an impact on the civilian side and folks in the church and around the world and her community, she's also making a huge impact on those who have served um our nation and the families who have sacrificed and supported. Rachel, what is the power of just being quiet and listening? What have you because I know Mario Pierre Fields had a problem with shutting the heck up in high school and when he's young. So over to you. What have you seen as far as the power of that?

Rachel Singletary 12:22

Man, that's an art. The art of being silent, and that is something a lot of people have to work at. But see, he took my character, which I'm an observant individual. I'm very quiet, I'm very laid back. I assess the situation before I speak. I'm not an impulsive type of individual. So he already took, he already took the foundation, I need that and just fine-tuned it to use. But I've noticed, because he even says in his word, a soft answer turns away wrath. Okay. Take a moment, think about now, is this glorifying God or my flesh? That's how you can assess any type of response. And it's such, and you believe it or not, Mario, no answer is an answer. So if someone is attacking you, whether it be on your job, we don't have to necessarily talk about in the church, or your job, whether it be a supervisor or co-worker, and they're coming at you. Maybe they have reported you or given falsified information. People are just waiting on you to respond. And then they'll take what you say and weaponize it. But if you keep a tone where you know what and be graceful with it, it has a way of working itself out. She's like, Well, she didn't respond like we thought she was going to respond. Maybe she's not, or maybe he's not quite like you said, and then they are defaced. But it's wise to keep your mouth shut. It's wise, like the young folks say, move in silence. You they didn't get that principle from anywhere. God even tells us to be quiet. He says, even a fool is kind of wise when he keeps his mouth shut. People don't know he's a fool until he opened his mouth. Like, man, yes, he's a straight fool. So they would never have known that until he said something. So be quiet, don't retaliate when enemies come up against you when they persecute you. No, he says, Stand still and watch my salvation. Vengeance belongs to me, says the Lord. I will repay. And lots of times we don't even have to open our mouth. So, yes, I believe strongly in silence.

Mario P. Fields 14:32

You're Rachel. That is also you know, just listening to you took me even back to childhood. My my mother said, Mario, Mario, Mario, yes, your mouth, your mouth is gonna get you in trouble. And then when I started to get to to learn more about the truth of the Bible and Proverbs, and I started to count how many times in the Bible it said you're a fool. I said, Well, man, this guy was a fool for about 40 years, but so powerful. So, and then listeners and viewers, if if you didn't catch it, I'll just kind of reiterate it. You get attacked for no for for for for whatever reason. When we'll just use the framework of that work at work, it's how you respond and be quiet. Isn't that proverb, book of proverbs? Be quiet, and I like how you said too it's in the Bible where a fool a fool can be wise, right?

Rachel Singletary 15:28

I tell you, don't know he's a fool until he starts that fool starts talking. You're like, Yeah, he's foolish for a reason.

Mario P. Fields 15:34

And then you're like, and I'm not calling you a fool because I'm calling you bad, and that's that's biblical.

Rachel Singletary 15:39

That is they were like that's in the word, like, yep, that's in the word. Don't get mad at me, be mad at me. Don't shoot the messenger, don't shoot her. You better go read Proverbs. You take that up with the Lord because that's what he said.

When Waiting Makes You Weary

Mario P. Fields 15:56

Oh my gosh, you know, and I I could have you on the show all day, but this has been great. Was there was there, you know, I'm not gonna wrap it up just yet. I just have a couple more questions in this unarmored discussion. Was there any time during your journey where you wanted to give up? And then if so, if so, how did you not give up?

Rachel Singletary 16:21

Well, there were a couple occasions where it it's the time, see lots of times that staggering of the time when you have a promise that you're waiting on and it seems like it's not gonna come to pass, and it seems like it's just getting worse before it gets better. That's why God will give us a word from the beginning and pertaining to the end. So one time I had a very candid talk because he rather for you to be really candid with him. I said, like, listen, Lord, is my Zach words. I know you're the infinite am that I am, and you don't operate in time. You said in your word, a day is like a thousand years, a thousand years like a day. But down here on this earth, we operate in days, hours, weeks, months, years right now, okay. So it's been a while, Lord. You know what you said that you were going to do now. You did say that you can't lie, and what you say is gonna come to pass because there were no comeback for it. But I just need a sign that I'm on the right track because I'm really getting weary in my soul. But you said in my soul, Lord. So I just need to know am I on the right track? Are we still tapped in? Is it still what you plan on doing?

Mario P. Fields 17:30

And I kid you not. That day, hey Reggie, you like you need some coffee? I mean, what I need something here, God, I'm making some decaf.

Rachel Singletary 17:37

Look, that's a real spill. I and that day he gave me a reminder that we were still on track with what he said, but I had to go to him because you know, I'm down here in this realm, and you in there, you know, where there is no time. So I just needed to know. But yeah, and then the times that it got really heavy, I said, you know what, I'm I'm kind of I'm kind of done with waiting on this this promise. And then one day he showed me and he shook me to my court. He showed me a vision of a man who was very solemn. He walked in and he wanted to make a withdrawal of his investment. And I knew the withdrawal was going to be devastating. And I remember trying to get him to forget that he asked for it, but then he peddled around. Then upon him leaving, he said, Well, I want to do my withdrawal now. Very solemn. He wasn't angry, he didn't raise his voice or anything. And I remember waking up from that vision, repenting, because everything he had started on my behalf, things I didn't even know he was doing, he was prepared to walk away. And I said, Lord, please don't, please don't take what it is that you've already started, please don't stop, because without you I will be nothing. So from then on, I stopped questioning his time because he showed me I did have a choice. Now I could do whatever it is you want me to do.

Mario P. Fields 18:55

Right.

Rachel Singletary 18:56

But are you prepared to deal with the consequences if I do? Wow.

Mario P. Fields 19:01

Wow, the power of faith. I love that. God do not withdraw from me. Wow, Rachel. Rachel, if you were standing next to yourself 10 years ago when you started or you know, when you started this journey, and before if you're standing next to yourself, what one piece of advice would you have would you give yourself?

Rachel Singletary 19:24

Well, one piece would be you know what, girl, you are worth it. You're worth it. Believe in yourself, and anyone else that can't get on board, it's okay to walk away. That's powerful.

Mario P. Fields 19:41

The power of self-worth. Self-worth, everybody. Rachel, how can people find you?

Rachel Singletary 19:46

Oh, wow. Let me see. There are several ways, but the number one way is on YouTube. Um, you can find me at Life Designs by Rachel Janielle. And that's J like Joy, A like Apple, N like Nancy, I like Igloo, E like Eternal, two L's like Larry, and E like Eternal again. And you can find all my teachings, all my sermons. You can also message me up there, I believe, if you need to. And I would love for you guys to comment, subscribe, do whatever you need to do, share it as well, because I believe that what comes forth will be a blessing.

Mario P. Fields 20:23

Great, Rachel. This has been great. And everyone, again, I told you at the beginning that I believe this conversation would encourage what you know would encourage and strengthen you in your walk in life. And I hope it does. It has done uh has done that for me and the power of faith and everything else. Rachel, you've been amazing. Thank you for allowing me uh to host you on my show today. And uh, God bless you, Rachel.

Rachel Singletary 20:46

Thank you so much for having me. You're a blessing.

Mario P. Fields 20:49

No, thank you so much. Well, everyone, thank you for your continued support. Please stay unarmored, stay authentic, and stay mentally fit. God bless you all. Thank you.