50: Situationships (Ep.5) Are You Waiting or Avoiding? The Truth About “Divine Timing” in Relationships

When Faith Becomes Waiting: Situationships, Divine Timing, and Choosing Clarity

Situationships often don’t end because something is wrong — they continue because faith quietly turns into waiting.

In this episode of Rooted & Rising, Tara explores how spiritual language like “trusting divine timing”, “surrender”, and “having faith” can unintentionally keep people stuck in unclear relationships. When clarity is avoided in the name of patience, situationships thrive — not because love is present, but because choosing feels risky.

This conversation is for anyone navigating a situationship, waiting for commitment, or questioning whether faith has become a way to avoid asking for what they truly need. Tara breaks down the difference between grounded faith and fear-based waiting, how the nervous system learns to tolerate “almost” relationships, and why asking for clarity is an act of self-trust — not control.

Listeners will explore:

• Why situationships often hide behind spiritual language
• How “divine timing” can become emotional avoidance
• The difference between surrender and self-abandonment
• Why clarity strengthens relationships — or reveals the truth
• How choosing yourself restores sovereignty and peace

This episode invites you to stop spiritualizing uncertainty and start honoring your needs with grounded faith, self-trust, and clarity.

🌿 Ready to Go Deeper?

If this resonated, and you recognize yourself in the pattern of almost relationships, I created something to support you beyond this post.

My e-guide, From Almost There to All the Way, walks you through:

• Why situationships feel so hard to leave
• How nervous system patterns keep you attached to uncertainty
• The hidden payoffs that keep “almost” relationships alive
• How to rebuild self-trust and choose clarity without abandoning yourself

This isn’t about forcing commitment.
It’s about coming home to yourself—so commitment becomes natural, mutual, and grounded.

👉 You can explore the guide here:
From Almost There to All the Way: A bold guide to ending Situationships and choosing Commi

Transcript

Provocation: Faith Or Fear

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What if the faith you've been holding on to is actually the fear you've been hiding behind? And what if trusting the timing has become your permission slip to never ask? We're gonna dive in, and here we go. Welcome to Rooted in Rising. I'm your host, Tara Michelle, intuitive guide storyteller, and fellow traveler on this wild path of becoming. This is a space for the soul led, for the ones unraveling old stories tending to their healing and rising, not perfectly, but powerfully into who they are here to be. Here we explore what it means to live with intention, to love with depth, and to trust that even the hard things are shaping us. I'll share pieces of my own journey, the cracks, the beauty, the breakthroughs, and invite voices who are walking this path too. Because I believe life isn't happening to us, it's happening for us. So come as you are, root in and rise up. And thank you, truly thank you for being here. Welcome back to Rooted in Rising, everybody. This is Tara Michelle. I'm your host of the show. And so great to have all of you with us today. Um, if you're new to the show, this show is where personal growth meets real life, intuition, and healing, and honest conversations that really help you break patterns and come home to yourself and build relationships that are rooted, steady, and true. So this is episode five of a situationship series that I started uh this year for 2026. I thought it was important, some things that I was moving through last year, some breakthroughs that I had and things that I really wanted to dive in and share in hopes that it's going to make a difference for somebody else. So this is episode five as we move into the situationship series. So, episode one, we name the pattern, the almost there relationship. And that's what I call it. It's the almost there, your almost there relationship, where connection exists without clarity, where intimacy shows up without commitment. And we talked about why it's so hard to leave when what seems like nothing is really overtly wrong. So, episode two, we explained why we choose these almost relationships in the first place, and how your nervous system learned to stay slightly guarded, felt safer than going all the way in, and how almost becomes protection inside of love. In episode two, we explore why we choose almost in the first place, and how your nervous system has learned to stay slightly guarded, felt safer than going all in, and how almost becomes protection instead of love. In episode three, we go deeper into the inner context of what's actually going on. We look through the lens of which you experience connection, which is shaped by past experiences and emotional conditioning. And we also look at how the patterns in your relationships exist internally before they ever show up externally. Episode four, which was last weekend, we talked about expecting the no. And this one was something that that that I really know this pattern all too well. Um, it's that quiet belief that shapes your choices, and it's disguised as realism or spiritual detachment, and it keeps you in the in-between where situationships thrive. So those are the things that we've we've gone through. And I encourage you to go back to the earlier episodes and take a listen. And you can jump around. You don't need to listen to them in consecutive order. But if you want to go deeper in all of those areas, then I highly encourage you to go back to the last four episodes. Today we're going somewhere that may hit home again for some of you who really understand or have been grappling with this place called situationships. We're actually talking about when faith becomes waiting. And this was interesting as I began to uncover this for myself because I like to pride myself in somebody who I've done a lot of um, I've done a lot of self-development, I've done a lot of exploration. I like to think that, yeah, I really know who I am, right? But at the same time, you know, life is all about an unfolding and you're just peeling the next layer of that onion. And so, you know, we're all still works in progress. At least I like to think so. I'm still a work in progress. But as I mentioned, you know, we're talking about when faith becomes waiting and when surrender becomes avoidance, when spirituality becomes a beautiful reason not to choose. Right. And I'm bringing this to you not as someone who has it all figured out, because I don't. As I said, I am a work in progress, but I want to bring it to you as someone who knows exactly where you might be right now and spiritualizing my stuck places, calling patience trust, when my body actually knew there was something else going on, and there was something else that was off. So here's what I've noticed, and maybe you'll see this for yourself. Sometimes what looks like faith is actually fear wearing a more acceptable outfit. Okay, follow me with this one. And the question isn't whether you have faith, because you do, you absolutely do. The question is, what is your faith protecting you from? Is it protecting you from choosing and risking being wrong? Or is your faith protecting you from asking and risking hearing no? Is it protecting you from wanting and risking the vulnerability of actually being fully seen? Because here's what I've learned faith with grounding looks like trusting yourself to see what's real and respond to it clearly. Faith without grounding, that looks like waiting for circumstances to decide so you don't have to risk anything. One is rooted and the other is suspended. I want you to really allow yourself to just, if you're visual, imagine that. Like one version of faith is is really rooted, while another version of faith really keeps you suspended. When faith becomes waiting without discernment, a specific pattern begins to emerge. And you stop asking for clarity because you don't want to force anything. You interpret silence as the universe is working behind the scenes. And you call patience trust, even when every cell in your body is screaming that something's not right, and you spiritualize staying stuck. And the person that you're waiting on, they're not sitting in meditation about divine timing. I can promise you they're not. They're literally living their life unclear about you because clarity was never required by you. They're not decoding signs from the universe about your connection. They're making choices based on what feels convenient, not what feels aligned. And here's the part that lands differently when you really let it in. Asking for commitment isn't forcing an outcome. It's honoring your truth and allowing their response to show you what's real. You can trust unfolding and honor your needs. You can surrender to what is and choose yourself when what is doesn't meet you. You can dive deep into abiding faith and maintain clear, grounded standards. These aren't contradictions, they're integration. So here's where I invite you into something deeper. What if faith isn't about waiting for someone else to choose you? What if faith is about trusting yourself enough to choose? Even when the outcome is uncertain? What if surrender isn't about staying in ambiguity? What if it's about surrendering to your own truth and allowing what doesn't align to fall away? What if? Because grounded faith doesn't keep you passive, it keeps you present. Grounded faith says, I trust myself to name what I need. Grounded faith says, I trust myself to recognize truth in someone's actions, not just their words. Grounded faith says, I trust myself to walk away when something isn't aligned. And grounded faith says, I trust that choosing clarity isn't controlling, it's honoring myself. This is what sovereignty looks like. Rooted in your truth, clear about your needs, willing to choose yourself when it's uncomfortable. Faith was given to you, to support you in your agency, not to replace it. And I think that's really, really important is to really consider the context of the word faith for yourself. And I'm gonna say this again. Faith was given to you to support you in your agency, in your truth, in your sovereignty, not to replace it. You're not here to be a spiritual vending machine, okay? You're not. And depositing patience coins and hoping commitment eventually will fall right out, it's not gonna happen. You're not here to interpret breadcrumbs as banquets. And I feel I've done a lot of that. So I really get what that means and what that looks like. And you're not here for that, you're not here to minimize your needs so someone else can remain comfortable in their own ambiguity. That's not what you're here for. You're here to rise into your fullness of who you are, you're here to rise in the fullness of your truth. You're not here to shrink and fit into someone else's maybe, into someone else's version of you. You're here to fit into your true version of you. You are here to root and to rise. And that kind of faith, that's what transforms everything. Not that faith keeps you small, silent, and hoping. Okay, that's not what it's about. But the faith that says, I am worthy of clarity, I trust my needs, I will not abandon myself, even if that means walking away from total potential. Now, before we close, I want to reflect on some things because I think it's important. I'm gonna offer you two questions, and I want you to actually sit with them, not just think about them while you're driving or doing the dishes. Really sit down and pause, reflect, and allow yourself this time to really look at these two questions. Find a quiet moment, get a journal if that calls to you. Let yourself feel what comes up when you feel it coming up. I want you to actually feel where it's coming from in your body. First, here's the first question Where have I been using faith or surrender as a reason not to choose? Okay. Name the specific situation, name the specific person. I don't want you to, you know, overthink it. Just truth. You'll hear the name, you'll hear the situation, it will resonate, or I should say, it will rise quietly in the back of your mind. Write it down. Second question. What am I actually afraid will happen if I stop waiting and start asking for clarity?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

What is it that you think will happen? Write it down. Look at it clearly.

Closing Encouragement And Next Tease

Follow, Share, And Farewell

SPEAKER_01 14:35

And then ask yourself, is this fear protecting me or is it actually keeping me small? And you'll you'll know the truth within your body. So in closing, here's what I know about you. You're not here to live in limbo. You're not here to shrink yourself so someone else feels comfortable. You're not here to spiritualize settling. You're here to be rooted, so deeply connected to your truth that nothing can pull you off center. Nothing. That is what you're here for. You are here to be whole, not half-met, not almost there, but fully, completely yourself. You're here to rise into the man or woman who trusts themselves so profoundly that choosing becomes sacred, boundaries become love, and faith becomes the foundation from which you build a life that actually feels like yours. That's the invitation. Not to be perfect, not to have it all figured out, but to choose yourself with the same devotion you've been offering to people who couldn't meet you. I want to thank you all for being here with me this week. Thank you for doing this work with me. You know, I myself personally have been really moving through some deeper levels of truth in the last few weeks, which I'll be sharing eventually here on the show. And I want you all to know that this is the journey, this is the walk, this is what it looks like. You know, every day is a blessing. Some days don't feel as good as the others, but I want to remind you that it is all part of the journey. It is all part of the process. This beautiful divine life is happening for you. It is not happening to you. And this is all about stepping into the truth of who you are, rising as the hero of your journey, and no longer being victimized by circumstances or situations. And if in fact you are being victimized by it, that the time of being the victim is shortened, that you shift it, that you change it, and then you begin to see that this life is happening for you. You shift that lens, you shift that perspective, you root into your truth, use your voice, stand for what you know is who you are, and then be in this world. Shine your light. That is what it's all about. And hey, some days it's gonna look messy, trust me. I've had some really messy days lately. Some days you're gonna be like, oh shit, what did I just say or do? But be your truth. Always be your truth. The path is lit, and some parts of the path are dark, but you got to keep going. So I love all of you. Hey, in the next episode, we're actually gonna be talking about the cost of staying in almost. I also have some new guests that will be coming onto the show soon. So that will be opening up and we'll be shifting out of the situationship to commitment series here soon, and we'll be moving into some other areas that I've been grappling with and want to share on the show. But I just want to thank you all for this amazing opportunity and time. And I will see you next week. Until then, keep rooting in, rise, rise, rise. I should say root in deep and then rise, just rise. Have a blessed week, and we'll see y'all soon. Thank you for rooting in and rising with me today. If something in this episode stirred something in you, take a breath, take what you need, and let the rest soften. Be sure to follow the show so you don't miss what's next. And if you feel called, share this episode or leave a review. It helps the space grow and reach others on the path. Until next time, may you walk with trust, speak with love, and rise in your own time. I'm so grateful you were here with us, and thanks for being here. We'll see you on the next episode.