Green Means GO

Green means go—but how often do we sit at the light anyway?

In this episode of Woman in the Word, we’re talking about what it really looks like to respond when God speaks. So often, we pray for direction, clarity, and confirmation… but when the answer comes, hesitation creeps in. We second-guess, overanalyze, or stall out completely.

But throughout Scripture, when God speaks, movement follows. Not perfect plans. Not full understanding. Just obedience.

If God has given you a word, a nudge, or a next step—you don’t need to wait for the light to turn yellow. He already said go.

Join us as we unpack the cost of hesitation, the danger of standing still when God has called you forward, and the freedom that comes from immediate obedience. Because delayed obedience isn’t neutral—it shapes the direction of your faith.

It’s time to trust His voice, release your fear, and step forward.

Green means go.

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Stay rooted in the Word and faithful in the journey.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Woman in the Word, the podcast where we dive into scripture, ask real questions, and walk through the Bible together, one honest conversation at a time. I'm Felicia Parker, I'm your host, and I'm so glad you're here. So whether you're new to the Word or you've been studying for years, there's a seat at the table for all of us. So grab your coffee, open your journal, or put on your walking shoes, and let's get into it. Hey, welcome to the Woman in the Word podcast. I am so excited that you're joining me today, as always. Today is going to be a good one. It has been one that has been close to my heart because God has been checking me on it. And I wanted to share it with you. And today we are talking about green means go. So let's jump into it. So all of us know when we get in our car, we start our engine, and we get to driving, we know at some point we will come to a stoplight, whether it be red, yellow, or green. And we all know what the colors stand for. Red means stop, yellow means yield or slow down. The light is going to turn to a red, or green means go. Go ahead and go with the flow of traffic and get from one point to another. And I think sometime in our life we forget that green means go in our spiritual walk with the Lord. Sometimes we treat green like it's a yellow, and sometimes we treat green like it's a red based on what we've walked through, what we've experienced, our failures, our shortcomings, our setbacks, whatever it is. Sometimes we treat that green light like it's a yellow light. Oh, I need to be cautious. Let me think a little bit longer. Let me slow down. And sometimes we treat it like an absolute red light. I'm gonna stop. I'm just gonna wait. And then we we try to make it sound as though we have a bunch of faith and we say, Oh, I'm just waiting for confirmation from the Lord. Or, oh, you know what? I think it's just gonna take a little more time for God to just reveal more to me. And one thing I've learned about God is that he does not reveal any more than what he has revealed initially when he said go until you take the next steps. So if that's calling you to apply for a job, he's not showing you the next 10 years of what that job is gonna look like and all the promotions and all the lives you're gonna touch. He's just saying apply for the job. And and then you may think, well, I'm underqualified, or you know, I've been a stay-at-home mom for years, and now, you know, I'm going back into the workforce, or I'm a new grad and I don't have experience, and you know, all the things that could get you to come to that conclusion with a yellow light in your spirit, or an absolute red light. No, God, I'm not applying for that because the last time I applied for a job and I stepped out on faith, it didn't work. Or last time I stepped out and I got this job, it wasn't what I thought. And we will find ourselves in a place of no God, let's just wait for more confirmation. Show me more, reveal more. And I want you to understand, God doesn't usually work like that. And we see that in scripture. We're gonna jump right in. We see in Joshua chapter one through three, this is where God is handing the baton to Joshua after Moses is passed away, and he says, Okay, I need you to lead my people, I need you to go forth and walk them into the land that I have promised you. And he tells him in chapter one, as he is literally anointing him to lead these people, he is also equipping him with the word, and he's letting him know be strong and courageous, don't be afraid or discouraged, meditate on my word day and night. That's the only way you're gonna be successful, and go do what I've called you to do, to go and tear down the walls of Jericho. And they did that by marching around the wall seven times, and they did it quietly, and then the on the last day the trumpet sounded. You can go and read it for yourself, it's really, really good. And he gives these instructions to him, and it says in Joshua 3, chapter 1, it says, early the next morning Joshua left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River where they camped before crossing. So he gets the word from the Lord, be strong and courageous, lead these people, go take the land, go conquer all that I've called you to conquer because I have already given you the victory. So Joshua sends out spies into the land because he's gotten this word. He sends out spies, they come back, they give a report to him, and then he lets everyone know, pack up your things, in a couple days we're gonna leave. Once that time hit, early that morning they rose up, they moved from where they were, and they began on this journey pursuing the land that God had promised them. Did God tell them everything at that point? No. Did they eventually get the instruction from the Lord? This is how the people are to walk around and they're supposed to be quiet. And He God began to reveal in the going what the next steps were to the victory. And I think sometimes we sit and we wait for the full picture before stepping out because we think, okay, I'll feel better if I know more, I'll rely more on you, God, if you tell me more, I'll have more faith if you show me more. But really, what that is saying is, God, I don't believe what you're saying is true. I can't rest on the one promise that you gave me, and I'm afraid to step out into uncertainty. And I want you to know walking by faith, it looks like uncertainty. It's the safest, most sure and secure place you can ever be. So if you are in that place today of saying, okay, green means go, God has given me a word and I'm supposed to step out on it, but I am maybe sitting at a yellow light in my spirit or a red light, I want you to know that God's word, whatever he spoke to you, it is sure and it is true, and it will carry you to the next step where he will reveal the next thing in that journey to wherever he's calling you to go. So if that's applying for the new job, apply. If that's going to the college and pursuing the degree he's called you to, do it. If that's, hey, stepping out of your comfort zone and joining a small group at your church, do that. If that's going to church because it's been a while and he's been impressing upon your heart a church to visit, go visit. If it's forgiving that person, although they've hurt you and they don't seem like they care, forgive. Whatever that thing is that God is calling you to do, green means go. I pray this is your reminder today to go do whatever he's called you to do it. And like it says right here in Joshua 3.1, early the next morning they got up. I hope that you do it quickly, whatever God is calling you to do. I hope you have a get up early the next morning and do whatever the Lord has called you to do. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick pause in our conversation and introduce you to uh the lover of your soul if you have yet to meet him. I would love to lead you in the prayer of salvation. So if you'd repeat after me, that'd be awesome. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I want him to be the Lord of my life. I believe that you raised him from the dead to rule and reign for all of eternity. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross just for me. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God and just say congratulations. We see in Genesis 22 where the Lord is testing Abraham's faith. So Abraham was given a promise by God that he would be given a son. And you guys can go read it, it's really good. He took it, he and his wife took it into their own hands after time had lapsed between the promise and the revealed promise coming to pass. And so he and his wife took it upon themselves. She comes up with a plan. Hey, you know what? This son is gonna come through my maid, through my maidservant. So go be with my maidservant, and that's how the baby's gonna come. And so that's how we get Ishmael. But that was not the promised son. That was not God's way of doing things. And I want you to understand this green means go. If God gives you a word, you walk in it until you see it. Don't say, Oh my gosh, it's taking so long. I'm gonna put a pause on this green light, and I'm gonna go follow my own green light because that is one of the tricks of the enemy. He will allow time between the word and the word coming to pass to be the place where you faint, where you get weary, where you get tired, and where you want to quit. And so don't let the green light of the word of God and the time lapse in between that green light of going and that revealed manifestation of the promise get you to follow another green light. Now we see Ishmael's on the scene, and God still lets Moses know, hey, I've still promised you something, and it's going to come to pass, so keep walking in the way I've called you to walk and trust me. And so at this point in Genesis 22, he now has the promised son who is Isaac, and God asks him to sacrifice his son. And I thought it was so interesting. Scripture says he called Abram to take his son, his only son, Isaac, the one whom he loved so much, and sacrifice him. And I thought it was interesting the words, the description of this child that God used to ask Moses, will you give him to me? Will you give the thing that you desired so much? Will you give to me the thing that you waited for for so long? Will you give it to me? Will you give it to me and still allow me to sit on the throne of your heart to be the Lord of your life? Or will you allow what you wanted for so long, what you waited so long for and you finally got? Will you allow that to become an idol in your life? And it says in verse 3 of Genesis 22, the next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkeys, he took two servants and his son Isaac. And the story goes on to say they set off to a place. Isaac asks him, Father, what are we doing? And he said, You know, we're going to sacrifice. And he says, Well, where is the sacrifice? Abraham tells him, The Lord will provide, and they go on this journey. He begins to tie up his son as they get on the mountaintop, and he holds up the knife to take his son's life, and the voice of the Lord says, No, no, no. Now I know you won't put anything before me. And sometimes, y'all, our green light looks like a sacrifice. And God is wondering, will you go even if that means you have to sacrifice something? Will you go even if that means something that you care so deeply about may potentially die? Will you go even if it costs you something? And I want you to know that God is such a good God. If He's calling you to go somewhere that costs you something, it's because on the other side of that thing is such blessing and promise revealed in a way that you could not have imagined if you had not gone, even if it's called the road of sacrifice. So green means go even when it costs you something. Green means go even when it's a sacrifice. Green means go even when it when it tugs at your heart and you want to hold on to that thing, go anyway, obey anyway, and do it like Abraham. Get up early and go on the journey and see what God has stuck in the bush, like he did for Abraham. He had the sacrifice of the ram stuck in the bush, but it took him going to the place and having the heart that was willing to sacrifice it all before God laid in front of him a sacrifice in place of the thing that he so desired to keep. Y'all, I want you to know God's not trying to take something from you. He's trying to get something to you. And there will be seasons where the green light is a test. And I want you to know, if the green light is a test, don't sit at the yellow light and be cautious and wait. Or don't sit at a red light and say, absolutely not. I've waited for this for so long. I'm not gonna let this go. I'm not gonna relinquish control. I'm not gonna give it to you, God, because what you're saying is I'd rather this sit on the throne of my heart than you. I thank you so much for what you gave me, but now this has become my Lord, my God, my everything, and I have put something above you. And we know what Scripture says that God says, put no other God before me. So if green means go and it's on the road of sacrifice, go because God's got something great in store for you. On September 19th, 2026, women will gather at the UNLV Student Union Ballroom for a powerful day of connection, encouragement, and renewal. The gathering, 2026. There's a seat waiting just for you. We see in Luke 1, we see the story of Mary and the foretelling of Jesus' birth and how the angel Gabriel shows up to her and is having this conversation with her. Now, mind you, she is a teenage girl that is unwed, and the angel tells her that she is going to birth the Son of God. And she says, How can this be? Or how will this happen? Not in a doubtful way. She just was wondering, okay, I know the natural way in which children come about, and I know the way in which I'm supposed to do this thing. I'm supposed to be married first, and then I'm supposed to have children. How is this supposed to happen? And he tells her in verse 37 of Luke 1, my most favorite scripture, y'all, when it comes to walking by faith. Nothing is impossible with God. And in verse 38, she says, Well, I am the Lord's servant. May everything you say come true. She basically said, Green means go and I'm gonna go. I don't know how it's gonna happen because I only know the natural way in doing it, but green means go. So if you're saying it, I pray that everything you say to me comes to pass. I pray that everything you say to me is true because I'm believing it. I'm taking you at your word. And sometimes we have situations in life where God is calling us to a green light to step out on something that does not make sense, that in our mind we cannot fathom because in the natural we don't see it. We don't understand why God is calling us to try again when the doctor said, Hey, you can't have children. And God says, try again. And we say, What? Okay, well, like Mary says in one version of scripture, be it unto me. Whatever you say, let it be in my life what you're saying. And I feel as though God is calling us to a higher place when we read this scripture of will you trust me when you can't see it? Will you trust me when it doesn't make sense to you? And there are times where we're called to things and it may not make sense based on our gender. It may not make sense based on our age, it may not make sense based on our social economic level, it may not make sense. But God is still saying the green light means go. Trust me even in this, trust me with this, and watch what I can do through this. And y'all, Mary got to birth the son of God, and she got to watch this baby grow from an infant to a toddler to a child to a teenager to a young man to a grown man, and she had the honor of being his mother, y'all. What are we carrying? What does God want us to birth that in the natural does not make sense? But God is saying green means go. Will you trust me? Will you say yes, I'll go when it doesn't make sense? Yes, I'll go if I don't have it, but you're telling me to do it anyway. Yes, I'll go when you ask me to start a business and I don't know how. Yes, I'll go when you ask me to try again with a child and and we've already been told no by multiple doctors. Yes, I'll go back to school, although I'm in my you know older years. Yes, I'll go when you ask me to step out into a situation where I feel uncomfortable. Or will you put a pause on it like a yellow light in your spirit? Or will you put an absolute stop like a red light in your spirit of, oh no, God, it doesn't make sense to me. I can't see it, I don't understand it. Natural mindset does not comprehend it, so it's a no for me. Or it's a, oh God, I need more clarity, I need more understanding, I need more wisdom, I'm waiting for more confirmation. Whatever God is calling you to do, whatever green light he's put in front of you, no matter how impossible it seems in the natural, I want you to do like Mary and say, Lord, I am your servant, and whatever you are saying to me, I pray that everything comes true.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

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SPEAKER_01 17:44

Let's talk about what it looks like to possibly have a yellow light in the spirit, or possibly even a red light. Let's jump right in to the wilderness with the children of Israel. In Numbers 13, we find the children of Israel. The Lord has called for them to go scat out the land. So 12 spies go and check out the promised land that God has promised to them. The land is amazing, it's plush, the food is delicious. Oh my goodness, all the things. It is everything that they could desire and more. Just picture that in your mind, right? If you have a dream place in your mind, a perfect home in your mind, the best vacation, whatever it is, picture that in your mind. God told him, go scout it out. That's like him saying, Hey, I have this perfect home for you. Go look at it. Go to the model home and look. Look at the bedrooms, look at the yard, look at the kitchen. For me, it's look at the laundry room. Now that I've got, you know, my big family and forever doing laundry and washing loads and loads of clothes for what reason? I don't know. But my kids feel the need to put something on a couple hours later, change it, put something else on. So anyway, I'm looking at the laundry room. But let's say, you know, it's the perfect home or it's the perfect job, or it's the perfect piece of land that you want to retire on. It's the perfect vacation that you get to take. God's saying, hey, go, go scout it out. I want you to see it. I want to literally, he's saying, I want you to go and build your faith for what I've already promised to give you. And 10 of them come back, and they come back with a very sour report. And their sour report soured the hearts of the millions that listen to their words. And I want to caution you, be very careful what you speak. When you have a yellow or red light in your spirit, you need to go submit that to God. You don't need to go and vomit that on other people verbally. You really got to check it with God because if He's giving you a green light and you go and you share your yellow light, red light, feelings, emotions, experiences with everybody else, you may cause them to too have a red light or a yellow light in their spirit. And we don't want that. And so they come back and it says in verse 30, and Caleb tried to quiet the people that stood before Moses. Let's go at once and take the land, he said. We can certainly conquer it. Now, he and Joshua saw exactly what the other ten saw. But for some reason, he looked at it differently. He looked through the lens of God said, Go. God has promised this. God has called us to this. He was looking through the lens of faith that if my God said it, if he gave me a green light, it's because I'm supposed to go after this thing and possess it. And y'all, I want you to hear me. Because they came back, the ten came back with a sour report, it caused a red light in the spirit of all those that were in the hearing of those words. And they died in the place that they were just supposed to be passing through. They died in the wilderness. They never made it to the promised land. God waited for all those that had decided to take the word of the people and have more faith for that than his words. He allowed all those people to die in that place where they were supposed to be passing through. He allowed them to die in a place of preparation as opposed to making it into the place that he prepared for them. The wilderness was only a place to be prepared, prepared to go into the promised land. But because they decided to take the word of those that had a red light check in their spirit, they never made it in. And I just want to caution you today if green means go in your life today, if God has given you a word and you have a yellow or a red check in your spirit, submit it to God and do it immediately. Because one thing I know is the longer we take between the word given and the steps in the going, we give room for doubt, we give room for fear, we give room for uncertainty, we give room for that to live and to swell up that. Space so that the word of God becomes more faint and the fear becomes more loud in our life. And I want you to know if you've got that check in your spirit, submit it to God. If it's for a job, if it's a new relationship, if it's forgiving someone, if it's trying again in an area that maybe you feel like you failed at before, submit it to God because if he's saying go, it's because he has promised to take you through it, to take you into whatever he's called you to, and to use you in that place and to show you his mighty power through the going. So you have to go. Green means go today. And this is not just a reminder to you, this is a reminder to me. I had a conversation with the Lord a couple years ago, and one thing he pointed out to me, he said, Felicia, you can be a well-dressed, well-paid, well-spoken of wilderness wanderer if you don't go where I'm calling you to go. It will look good, it will sound good, it will feel good, but you will still be in the wilderness and you will never reach the place of promise that I have prepared for you if you don't go. I want to share that with somebody. If you don't go, you'll die in the wilderness. You'll die in the place that you're supposed to be passing through. And y'all, there's there's one other person that I want to address because even Jesus mentions her in the New Testament from the Old Testament. And she is found in Genesis 19, and it's Lot's wife. The angel of the Lord comes to Lot and tells him, You need to leave this place, Sodom and Gomorrah. God was just displeased with how they were living, how that city was doing things, and God says, I'm about to burn it up. And then Abraham begs him and he says, Okay, if it's a few in the city I find that are righteous, I'll save it for their sake. But we know what God did. He set the city on fire, but before he did that, he gave grace to Lot and his family. He said, Y'all need to get out by way of an angel. Y'all need to get out, you need to go. And Lot waits. The angel gives him a couple prompts to go, a couple nudges to go, a couple urges to go, and he waits. And by the time he goes, so the angel comes, y'all, at night to tell him, pack your stuff and go. And Lot kind of drags his feet, drags his feet. And by the time they get out of the city, y'all, it's the next day. And at this point, Lot's wife has now had time to get a yellow light and possibly even a red light in her spirit because of the delay that took place in the going. And because she had a yellow or red light in her spirit, y'all, the angel of the Lord said, Go, don't look back, and get to the city that we're sending you to. And we're not going to do anything until you get there, but you need to get there because we're about to rain fire down on this place. And so they leave. And because of the delay, with the green light means go, Lot's wife looked back, y'all. And I wonder, oh Jesus, I wonder. If they would have left when the angel first gave the word, would she have looked back? Would she have considered, oh, maybe I want to stay. Maybe this is not as bad. Maybe the angel was just kidding. Or would she have said, Well, I see the urgency in my husband. There needs to be urgency in my spirit to go as well. But maybe she saw the laxadaisical approach from her husband, the delay, the response, and maybe she thought, okay, maybe, maybe there is something to this place that I'll miss. Maybe there is something to this place that I want to hold on to more than reaching for what God has for me. And I want to encourage you today to not look back, to not allow delay to linger between the word and the going. If God has given you a word, if he has given you the green light to go, go. I am asking you to go wherever he's calling you to go, go. Whatever he's calling you to do, get up early and do it. Whatever he's called you to walk in, do it and do it quickly, but go. Don't hesitate with the yellow light in your spirit. And don't stop with the red light in your spirit because I want you to understand that can delay or that can actually allow you to miss what God has for you. The children of Israel died in the wilderness. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. Y'all, she became a monument between what was and what God desired to be because of that red light check in her spirit that she didn't submit to God. And I want us all to know we can be subject to becoming a pillar of salt, becoming a monument between what was and what is supposed to be. We can die in the place we're supposed to just be passing through if we don't go when God gives us the word. So am I saying just go haphazardly and just do the thing and you may not even be exactly sure, but you're like, oh, you know what? I feel like I'm supposed to move across the country. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I would say definitely make sure you get a sure word from the Lord before you step out and go. But when you do, and trust me, you know when you do, you need to go. Because green means go. Don't hesitate. Don't pause, don't pump the brakes and stop. Go and walk at the pace of grace that God has for you until you reach all that He has for your life. Thanks for hanging out with me in the Word. I hope it encouraged your heart and gave you something to carry into the rest of the week. If it spoke to you, share this with someone who might need it too. And hey, don't forget to follow or to subscribe so you don't miss out on what's next. Until then, keep showing up, keep listening, and let his word lead the way.