The Hearts Hello

Faith with Feet: Are you waiting in God or full of excuses?

• Keona T. Ellerbe • Season 2 • Episode 41

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What if that spiritual phrase we use so often—"I'm just waiting on God"—is actually fear dressed in church clothes? This raw, honest conversation peels back the layers of what true spiritual waiting looks like versus hiding behind passivity when we're simply afraid to take the next step.

Drawing from biblical examples like Noah who built an ark before seeing a single raindrop, we explore how preparation becomes the physical manifestation of our faith. The truth is uncomfortable but necessary: sometimes when you think you're waiting on God, God is actually waiting on you to act on the instructions already provided. Your breakthrough isn't being withheld—it's waiting for you to become the person who can steward it well.

The journey matters as much as the destination. Those struggles and detours you're experiencing aren't delays—they're building the character, wisdom, and resilience you'll need when your opportunity arrives. Someone else might get there faster through shortcuts or connections, but without the lessons of the journey, they won't have the foundation to sustain success. Your preparation now determines your readiness later.

Stop asking "When will it happen?" and start asking "Who do I need to become so I'm ready when it does?" Whether you're waiting for a job, relationship, or opportunity, there's active work you can do now—update your resume, heal old wounds, research your market, practice your craft. True waiting isn't passive; it's filled with intentional preparation that demonstrates your belief in what's coming. This week, identify one thing you can do while you wait, and release the habit of idle waiting for intentional preparation. You don't need to know when your breakthrough is coming—you just need to be ready when it does.

Speaker 1:

So in this episode, we are going to peel back the layers on a phrase we hear all the time I'm just waiting on God. And you can't just say it, I'm just waiting. You have to say it with an attitude I'm just waiting on God. But what if we've been calling stillness, faith, when in reality it's fear dressed up in church clothes? See, can we have an honest conversation today? Because I'm going to break down for you the difference between active preparation and passive waiting, and why one leads to alignment and the other to frustration. See, when we think about waiting, what does waiting really mean? Waiting doesn't mean doing nothing. See, scripture supports active faith. Like Noah building the ark before the rain came, people thought that he was crazy. Why are you doing this? We don't see any rain. We haven't seen any rain. But he had received instructions, and so in his instruction, he knew that I have to build this ark even before the first drop of rain comes. So I ask you are you waiting or are you avoiding the next step? You avoiding the next step? I'll wait, because I believe that this is going to be the honest conversation that you need to have with yourself, not for you to listen to what I'm saying to go through this whole episode and then not do any work. See, that's where most of us get this thing called life wrong. We can't say that we have not been given the information. See, we say that we want something different in our life, yet we are unwilling to do something different in order for that new thing to show up. So you're sitting there and you're saying I'm waiting, I'm praying, I'm waiting on God. But what if, while you're saying you're waiting on God, god is waiting on you? See, I know sometimes you'll listen to this show and you'll get the churchy Kiana, you'll get the one that's going to be giddy at times. You're going to get the real version of me all the time, the authentic version of me all the time. But this, this one today, is going to show up and stir your spirit a bit, because I know that you have been saying to yourself I'm just waiting on God, I'm just waiting on him to give me the next set of instructions. And, if I can burst your bubble really quickly, you're not waiting on God, because God has already given you a set of instructions, but you are unwilling to take the next step, because that next step is outside of what you are used to. That next step is outside of your comfort zone. That next step is going to propel you into this new version of you and you yeah, you, the person that's listening to me today you are afraid of what that version of you is going to require of you today, see, in order for you to become a thing, you have to realize what that entails and who you need to become in order to get there. See, some of you all have set these extremely large goals and there's going to be a new version of you that has to emerge in order for you to walk into that goal.

Speaker 1:

So some of you all are sitting at the precipice of what do I do? And you're blaming it on or using the excuse of I just got to pray about it. I just have to sit still for a moment, I just need to. You have all of these things that you need to, that you're saying you need to when you're just avoiding the next step to, when you're just avoiding the next step. So what is something you've been waiting on that actually requires your action? I need you to get that top of mind, because some of you all, your next is so close, but you've decided that you are going to sit on the sideline of life and just hope that everything is going to come to you. And that's not how it works. See, even while you are sitting on the sidelines, there are some things that you can be doing, and we're going to get to that in a second. But again, I just need you to get that on your mind. What have you been waiting on? That actually requires action. See, preparation is proof of belief. So, if you believe it's coming, you prepare. Waiting is idle, preparing is prophetic and your preparation sends a message that I believe what I prayed for is already mine. So remember when I said that you can be sitting on the sidelines and not necessarily in the game, but as you are sitting on the sideline, you can be reviewing the playbook, you can be preparing your mind, you can be getting yourself ready for where it is that you're getting ready to go, because, just because you're waiting to get into the game, you don't get into the game and then need to learn the plays. You develop and learn the plays off the field, so that when your number is called, I don't know why. I'm talking in terminology of football today. Maybe it's because of the show that I was recently watching, but I do enjoy football. Let me get back on track. But I'm hoping that you are picking up what I'm putting down Because, as some of you all are sitting on the sidelines and you're saying, I just need to be still in the season, your hands can still be working, you can still be reading a book, you can still be listening to a podcast and I'm thanking you all for listening to this one no-transcript.

Speaker 1:

So how would you behave if you knew the job was already yours, the husband was already yours, the opportunity was already yours? You'd show up a little different, right? You'd show up knowing that this is mine, I have worked hard for it and I'm getting ready to walk into it. But you all kind of sit back and just hope for things to kind of come to you, and that's not how life works. So I need you to shift your mindset a little bit, because we're going to operate faith with feet. So, as we talk about the fear of making the wrong move sometime and how that fear becomes a hiding place if what we are thinking doesn't work out, not realizing that, although it didn't work, it created a different version in you and you needed for it to not work, so that when you get to the place that you want to go, you'll realize why it didn't. It taught you a lesson.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes people get to places and they've gotten there so quick, fast and in a hurry that they have not had the opportunity to learn along the way. Sometimes things have been given to people and you know they rightfully did not deserve it and you're trying to figure out. Well, I had to jump through all the hurdles, I had to go all around the Marbury Bush, I had to go and do all of these different things. Why can't it just show up in my life right now? And it's because you're needing to learn the lesson so that, although that person got to this step because it may have been given to them, you're going to surpass them because of all of the lessons that you have learned.

Speaker 1:

And it doesn't always feel good in the process. It does not always feel good in the waiting. It does not always feel good in the preparation, but you begin to understand once you've walked into it. So you have to shift your mindset from asking when will it happen? To who do I need to become so I'm ready when it does. I talked about the job. So are there some certifications that you can get right now? Are there some classes that you can take right now? Are there some things that can help you level up right now?

Speaker 1:

For those of you all who are looking and waiting for your spouse, what are some things that you can do for you right now so that you can be the best version of you when that person shows up? Can you be the healed and whole version when that person shows up? Can you understand how to be loving when that person shows up? Can you understand you enough so that you can articulate your needs and wants to this individual when they come into your life? Or when they show up, are you going to continue to bleed on them because you're not healed yet? See, there are things that you can do in this waiting season to prepare yourself.

Speaker 1:

In this waiting season to prepare yourself. Or it could just be that opportunity, that business, writing that book, whatever it is. Begin to prepare, do the research. What is it that people need to hear now? What is it that people need to know now? So the mantra should be I prepare, not to prove my worth, but because I believe in what's coming. Y'all, we didn't just daydream as children, just to be daydreaming, and why is it that, when we become adults, we stop daydreaming? We have to put that thing on our mind. We have to be able to close our eyes and visualize what it is that we want. How does it make us feel, how does it sound, how does it smell? These are things you can begin to do now.

Speaker 1:

So the first thing that I need you to do is identify one thing you can do while you wait. If you're looking for that job, update your resume, create a morning routine, practice public speaking, declutter whatever it is that you need to do during this waiting season, and then use this waiting season to build character, consistency and clarity. Who do you want to be? Who do you want people to know you as? How do you want to show up in these rooms? Begin to prepare. If you want to be a speaker, go stand in front of your mirror and talk to your mirror, because how will you know what you look like to the audience if you don't know what you look like? What are your facial expressions giving off? All of these things, all of this prep work, matters.

Speaker 1:

So I'm excited for where we are. I'm excited for where we are getting ready to go, and for those of you all who are new here, you will hear me mess up, because I do not go back and re-record. Whatever you hear is what you get, because life doesn't give us the opportunity to go back and erase, but what we can do is in the moment we can correct. So our affirmation for this week is I release idle waiting and step into intentional preparation. I do not need to know when it's coming, I just need to be ready when it does. So if this episode spoke to you, dm me one thing. You've been waiting on that you're going to start preparing for this week and let's hold each other accountable.