046 Is God Actually Waiting on You?

What happens when we're stuck between waiting for God's clear direction and taking initiative?

Many Christians default to "I'll pray about it" mode, convinced that waiting is always the more spiritual choice.

But what if sometimes God is waiting on us to make a move?

We dive into biblical examples that support both approaches. From Genesis 1:28 where God gives humans authority and initiative, to the life of Jesus who operated from a place of constant communion rather than anxious waiting.

The key isn't choosing between action or patience, but finding the balance between stewardship and surrender.

Follow Jordan Marcotte on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jordanamarcotte

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Jordan Marcotte
• 7:28 Do We Wait or Move?
• 18:30 Biblical Examples of Divine Guidance
• 22:49 You Can't Steer a Parked Car

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome into another episode of the podcast, excited to have my friend Jordan Marcotte with me. Again, jordan, welcome into you. Thanks for your time. Yeah, man, thanks for having me. So if you guys don't know Jordan, you should go check him out on Spotify. He also is an amazing conference speaker. He's spoken at my Creative Legacy Conference that I do for creatives and entrepreneurs and he also does a lot of branding consultation and really, you know, kind of the way that I define Jordan is he's like a heart and soul coach, like he can talk to you and find the best in you and just draw that out of you.

Speaker 1: 0:35

And you leave a meeting with Jordan so often just like wow, I'm ready to, like take on the world and so excited to have him popping over again on the podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:45

And I want to talk about something that you and I have discussed many times, just as friends over a cup of coffee, and it's this idea, this reality of do we wait on God to give a clear go over here and do this, or do we begin to move in a direction that, as long as it's not contrary to the word of God, and just expect that the Lord is going to move and the Lord's going to be with me as I move in a direction and you know we're going to talk a good bit about this yesterday from Bible verse we're going to go through but Jordan kind of 30,000 of you in your life and I know even some recent seasons you've been in your life. It's not always. You know, man, I had a dream and the Lord told me to go over here and start a business. Or I had a dream and the Lord told me to fire this person from my worship team or whatever it is. You know, sometimes the Lord speaks clearly and sometimes there's this, this you know what. I'm just going to move and give God something to work with. So in your, you know, even recent events, get as specific as you want to.

Speaker 1: 1:53

What have you found in your life?

Speaker 2: 1:58

Again, I can only speak for me. I think I'm as a person, I'm more rambunctious, so naturally I love to press the bounds, I want to honor God, but I think my grandfather instilled in me early just a level of confidence in assuming risk, in that I think when I became a Christian I realized that, yes, there's this dynamic of wanting to trust and honor God in process, wanting to wait on the Lord, like all these things that I don't want to move, unless you say to move all of that stuff and it's all valid, it's all good. I just think that it's also been mutually just as easy to procrastinate, delay, out of fear, but say that it's God. Yeah, life, I love to knock on the door, try to pick the lock on the door. Really ensure, really ensure that, um, like I love just giving God something to just put fire on man, like I love just um, because I want to, I want to learn his voice, like, actually his voice, and this goes into a deeper conversation, but I was reminded about it literally this morning because oftentimes with john 10, like my sheep know my voice, um, but the like. When I was in india, one of the most powerful things I ever saw was that the sheep didn't respond to the command first. They respond to the voice, and so that's a really big deal, because it's why in John 10, it's like you know, like the hireling will come, and obviously we know that it goes on to say like Satan's come to steal, kill and destroy all of this stuff, whatever. That's another conversation.

Speaker 2: 3:58

But when it comes to like really being able to hear God's voice, I realized that for me, a lot of that happened.

Speaker 2: 4:05

The security of that happened, obviously, spending time with him, but it also came down to like, like, like really taking on what I would say is risk, or just, or just moving, like creating movement and putting one foot in front of the other, and learning those moments where, okay, I should not have taken that step, and being able to have dialogue with the Lord after that, because, yeah, so I mean like it's nothing profound, it's just I do err on the side of of like moving first, not being, you know, and then there's been plenty of moments where, out of fear, I have chosen to wait on God, and so, anyways, that conversation could literally be a ball that's tossed back and forth, and where do we really find that lane? But I know, for me, like in this season I know you were alluding to that in this season, there's been a lot of those moments where it's just like you, just this none of none of these decisions contradict the word of God, and so, therefore, like like I kind of just have to move.

Speaker 1: 5:08

Yeah, give him something to to work with, and this is what we've teased out together. It's like it's it's not either, or I believe it's both. And however, I think that my, your, many of the churches, default mode of operation is you know, let me pray on that, let me wait on that which, again, profoundly biblical. I'm going to bring up some examples here from the Bible on both sides. But I also think that the the need in so many in the body of Christ, whether you're a worship leader wanting to write songs and do a record, whether you're an entrepreneur or wanting to, you know, do whatever, whether you're a business person, whatever it is, we need to to give him more to work with. So a couple of biblical examples, on the permission-based side, if you will. So Genesis 128,. We all know this. The first command the Lord gave be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. God gives humans authority and initiative. Proverbs 16, 9,. I love this one. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. I used to take that to mean man. I'm going to try and do some stuff, but I'm going to wait for you to plan my steps, when actually I think what more. This verse in Proverbs 16, 9 is saying is God will help steer those who are already moving. God will help steer those who are already moving. Colossians 3, whatever you do, work heartily as unto the Lord. In Acts 16, you know, we see Paul trying to go to Asia. The spirit stops him. He wasn't waiting to be told he was going until god then redirected where he was going on his missionary journey. So you know, clearly, there's there's both sides in in the word. Uh, on the other side now. Exodus 40 when the cloud lifted, then the people moved. If it didn't, then they didn't. Isaiah, isaiah 30, there's so many examples we can give your ears, hear a word behind you saying hey, you, this is the way, walk in it over here, right. John 5, 19, jesus only did what he saw the Father doing, went on. The life of jesus here um, because what I see from the gospels and from the life of of jesus is um. He also had both elements in in his. I'm not saying that jesus thought the way that I think here of like, well, sometimes I'll wait to hear his voice and sometimes I'll just move, but I don't think he, I don't think he waited on god's voice as, like this separate action of I'm not going to move until I hear his voice. I think for Jesus he walked in such a state of constant communion I have a bug flying up in here I think he walked in a state of constant communion that he just flowed with the Father. He just flowed with the Father.

Speaker 1: 8:05

The words of Paul you pray without ceasing. Now, again, that really I felt a lot of condemnation on my life when I'd read that in my early years as a believer, because I'm like man like well, epic fail, on that one We've got a big F. Like fail, pray without ceasing. Like really, but that's what I think Jesus walked in. It wasn't this like yes, he, he, he got away to pray. But I don't think Jesus like got away to, like all right, lord, should I go to Samaria today or should I go to Galilee? Like please, let me know tonight in my prayer time. I think he was going away to commune with Jesus. And then he, he went, yes, yeah, those are really good examples.

Speaker 2: 8:49

And again, like, it seems like it seems like within a lot of that, that, you know, there there are common, there are common themes of like what I mentioned a moment ago. It's like like, are we prioritizing closeness with God so that it's not so much about obsessing and creating anxiety around the will of God? You know, because, like I think, like, yeah, I mean again, we all want to be able to like submit our way to God. I think there's like a you can't steer a parked car, kind of like dynamic here you know when it comes to like when it comes to obedience, and I think it's also, you know, I'm kind of the dude.

Speaker 2: 9:34

I feel like you probably are too. I mean, I feel like we're both very like. I kind of I'd love to just get the car like moving and God just being like, hey, why don't we park? Like, let's park the car for a second. You know, like I and that happened to me in you know like year and a half ago Right, like we talked in previous episodes where, like burnout and all that kind of stuff, where, like, like it got into the weeds of you know, like, okay, I'm just steadily moving, steadily moving, but there was there was advisory, there was there was wisdom, there was direction that said, why don't you park this car? Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 10:09

And then it's like, well, okay, like my ego or my ambition did not override obedience, and so, you know, I think it's like, I think genuinely, I would dare to say that we all, we all desire to want to be able to honor God and we want to be able to like move.

Speaker 2: 10:27

And you know, and I imagine, like I mean you've got, like I think about your daughters are older than than mine, right for them to know the will of their father or to be able to understand obedience, like they're going to have different liberties pun intended, they're going to have different liberties than my four-year-old and two-year-old. And I know that that sounds probably like duh, but the reality too is, I think, as we mature, as we grow, as we know the voice, not just random commands, but we know the intimacy of the voice, then we're not just out here trying to like, make moves that just are trying to be our will, glorifying us doing what we want. That's a different conversation. But like, some of that comes into this where, as we make like, there are times where I think that we pray and you know it's like why don't you just like, just move on it? Yeah, move on it. So I feel like I'm going to be redundant with this because it's just like just move on it.

Speaker 1: 11:29

So you have an idea, Godly Folk, for example. Just use that one example.

Speaker 2: 11:34

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:35

You shared in a previous episode that came to you, you know, a couple of years ago, whatever, but when that came back to you recently, walk us through is really simply the process of that of like all right, I want to gather creatives together. Were you like? You know, man, is that a stupid like? That's already being done, probably by dozens of people. There's, you know, all kinds of commissions around the city and you know where they gather business people together. So why did you press go on an idea that multiple people were already doing? Did you have a prophetic word? Did you have a dream, or you're just like I'm going to do it? That's really good.

Speaker 2: 12:11

Godly folk in general. You know, I again I do strategy and ideation or whatever I. I buy 15 domains a week, you know. So it's just like I'm always. I'm never short of brand ideas and whatever. I love that.

Speaker 2: 12:28

But driving down the street two years ago, two and a half years ago, and hearing Godly Folk in my spirit and just like I bought the domain, the Instagram, all of it, like immediately, and I've just sat on it, and so I remember sitting with my wife and it was one of those moments where it's like this is a great idea, and I knew that it wasn't for now. There was no clarity on what it was, and so I could recognize that it wasn't about trying to build strategy or press into that. I knew that it wasn't for now. And so here we are, fast forward. Last month, we did our first event, and this was the byproduct of two friends that were coming into town, and I was like I've always wanted to, not like I've wanted to be able to build rooms that I wish that I had. That was the messaging that I kept saying. So we hosted, we hosted a networking night for creatives and entrepreneurs and then the next day had a songwriting workshop for 30 individuals. And so I was like well, I know that I can either be discontent and frustrated about not seeing community around me, with where I live, or I can look to the Lord and say is this something that I can contribute to building? And for me, I felt more like I was spending more time, bro, complaining than contributing. And so for me, that was an indicator that I could either wait or, like that was.

Speaker 2: 13:48

To me, that was an indicator where I was like, I'm going to at least I'm going to push on it and see what happens. And I knew that my, I, genuinely I believed that my intent was pure in my heart, where I said, like there's no way, there's nothing about this. That's just, like you know, ego driven. I'm like, I desire community and I feel like other people might too. And so, knowing that these friends were coming into town, it pushed it, like it, it it kept me accountable to having to like, actually fulfill on it. And so we come off that weekend and it was phenomenal. You know, we had 120 people in the room night one. And then, obviously, our cap was 30. For our songwriting event, we had 27 there, 28. And that was phenomenal. And so, when I think about that, like that was something where I'm like God, oh, and then I didn't know what to call it, you know, and then I just remembered I have godly folk and I'm like this kind of feels like that, like gathering dreamers and doers together and builders and gather.

Speaker 1: 14:50

So it's this two and a half year journey. The name came two and a half years ago but your stewardship to jot that name down, to remember that name, and God did a bunch of other things the last two and a half years. And then a couple months ago, when this idea comes back to you, you're reflecting on your notes from two and a half years ago. You're like this is this, wasn't the time, and now it's the time. So there's a stewardship there of moving. But you didn't just you know I'm trying to get this dirt simple you didn't just sit around for two and a half years on the godly folk thing. You, you pivoted and you moved. You know 15 domains a week.

Speaker 2: 15:33

No, stewardship is the stewardship is the best way to put it, because you can sit there and and not every idea has to come to fruition, but it's more about the stewardship of a thing, and so that's the perfect way to put it, because I also had to endure a personal journey to be able to really be able to support and embody what Godly Folk I felt like is.

Speaker 1: 15:54

Yeah, a friend of mine told me this and I loved it. You can use any kind of cheap or free software out there Canva or whatever it is. But he challenged me a couple of years ago and I found this to be incredibly helpful, because ideas are a dime a dozen. Having an idea and you know 25 years, I'd probably push back gently that, even though I don't know you, and just say you're, you might be wrong, maybe you just you're up here when your ideas come, you don't let them sink in because you just push them off so dang quickly where it's like actually, you know, I think. I think everyone has ideas, like if you have a brain and you're connected to the Lord, um, even if you're not, I mean you have ideas that come right, and so is there a lack of stewardship there, and so a really practical way that I want to encourage my listeners here to look into doesn't have to be in Canva or visual, but for me visual helps. You have an idea. So for me it might be a movie idea, might be a business idea, might be a pivot for my coaching program or whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 17:02

I will have to limit myself to one page on Canva. So I use. Like you know, you can use a YouTube cover photo, get any kind of image size up that's wider, not top to bottom, and on the left-hand side, big fat font I put, you know, my new movie idea, whatever, it is Right. And then I'll go to Google and just stock photo stuff. Um, that could, you know, possibly be my thing. Save three, four photos, put those on the right hand side of the page. So now I have a visual to go along with my idea. And I will say again, if it depends on what it is, if it's a business idea, all right. What's the pain that you're solving, the pleasure you're offering? If it's a movie idea, what's the crux of this story? You know, a son transforms to realize, even though his earthly father died when he was two, that he has, you know, a heavenly father, right, that's the crux of the story. Maybe, give a. You know a name. The lead character is going to be named, you know, john, whatever it is. And protagonist is this antagonist, is this name, whatever. And that idea may never, ever come to fruition, right, but it is written down, it has been stewarded by you and in your case it might be two and a half, might be two decades later.

Speaker 1: 18:16

When you're going through and when you go back if you're a journal or listening, you know what I'm talking about. When you go back and you look at your notes whether you're a digital guy, a paper guy, whatever it is for journaling when you look at what you wrote down again, I love having favorite authors that's awesome, but those are their words. They ain't your words. If you're a podcast listener, that's the podcast person's words. But if you take something we say today from this podcast and you jot it down in your notes, you create a thing in Canva, you put it on your paper journal, whatever it is, and then six months a year go by and you go back and review that. It's going to mean so much more to you and the Lord has this way of just connecting things together. But it's it's a stewardship of of recording your ideas, having your spirit in tune to the father. But you're not going to wait for you know you don't have to wait for a prophetic word. So I I put a little um simple, you know, kind of metric together.

Speaker 1: 19:17

So if you're, if you're listening to this and there's going to be a lot of worship leaders, singers, musicians, pastors, whatever. Uh, if you're writing a song, okay, and we just did a training Jordan was a part of it a couple of weeks ago had tons of people on, tons of worship leaders, av techs, musicians, singers and pastors. It was awesome and we hit songwriting really, really hard and in our we have a kind of had a VIP green room that people had to pay to be a part of it, as as we were talking to them. And then, you know, as new clients have joined my program just even recently and I've been talking about songwriting, there's there's such a a mystical fear when it comes to songwriting I'm using this as one example that they just kind of want to like wait for this like prophetic download.

Speaker 1: 20:03

And again, that would be on this side of our metric of like, okay, you're waiting to hear god's voice say here's the song, here's the hook, here's the melody. I gave it to you in a dream. It's amazing. And again, that's awesome. I've had songs come to be in dreams before and it's beautiful, it's amazing. But here's the thing I don't just live on this side of the metric. I pray for that one to happen all the time. But if not, so that'd be the that's the lord. Write this song, justin.

Speaker 1: 20:29

If not, I'm gonna go to the other side and say whether I feel like it or not, whether I'm inspired or not, I'm gonna put time on my calendar and I'm going to write a song. Right? So those are the two opposites. If the Lord is having you, you know, possibly move cities might be two minutes down the road, 15 minutes down the road, 15 hours down the road. Right, the two sides of you're waiting for a command. God, if this is you, give me a vision, give me a dream, Give me a word. Let my neighbor who hates Jesus suddenly say to me I was thinking about Los Angeles, california, and you, does that ring true to you? It's like, oh my God, I'm supposed to move to LA. That's one side. The other side is consider the logistics, study the city, look at the real estate cost, seek counsel from a trusted mentor and begin to inch that thing forward.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Final example I'll give. There's so many examples we could give. It's like starting a business, it's like man. I think we should need to have this. The world would be such a better place if we had these types of soap dispensers or whatever. It is right. I'm going to create a soap dispenser and get it at every airport in the nation in the world. Whatever right, I'm going to wait for prophetic confirmation. Again, that's good to do. The Bible gives us both ways, lord. That's good to do. The Bible gives us both ways. Lord, if I'm supposed to do this soap dispenser business and be in every airport in the world by 2030, would you just give a dream to my pal. You know Jordan. Let him just come to me, you know great. Maybe that'll happen. Or you can start researching your soap dispenser idea. Has anyone else created that already? Are there patents already created on that?

Speaker 1: 22:01

Like the millimeter acts we've talked about? I talk about this a lot because I believe in our life. Again, I'm preaching to the choir here and I say this so often. So many people are waiting for the big grand thing and then they'll move when I believe. God says, millimeter by millimeter, my word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Move with me millimeter by millimeter and watch me is a lamp to your feet and a light unto your path. Move with me millimeter by millimeter and watch me move on your behalf.

Speaker 1: 22:28

And I use this example all the time, but it's worth saying again for my, my films that I created, um this past four years, I would still be waiting to raise.

Speaker 1: 22:37

This first film was 65 K. I'd still be trying to raise 65K if I had not rented the theater, gotten a team together and started to move. Same thing with this, the second film, the third film, the fourth show that we did live, and now for this future project that we're about to press go on. And so I just want to encourage our listeners and Jordan give us a final word here of encouragement, if you would but to not just sit on the couch and wait for God to inspire you to be a amazing songwriter, to inspire you to be an amazing singer. Some of you need to go downtown to your vocal music store, music store and get a vocal lesson and sign up for that junk. If you want to grow as a songwriter, if you want to grow as a worship leader, you need to get someone to co-write with. You need to join my journey program, justinrizzotrainingcom, and begin co-writing with people to be held accountable in what we're called to do.

Speaker 2: 23:32

Yeah, I mean, I agree, Like I think again, this conversation can be pulled so many different ways, but I think, at the base of it, as long as we're not like entertaining fear and anxiety, which is obviously not of God, and if that's creating procrastination and an inability to feel confident to move, then we have to address that first in anything that we're doing. Whether we're trying to write the song, If you are not writing the song because you are entertaining self-judgment and criticism and you are not writing the song because you are entertaining self-judgment and criticism and you are trying to work your way to something more, whatever acceptable, that's not like that You're being. You're not being driven by the Lord, like the Lord's voice, real inspiration, you know. And so, regardless of whether you're trying to move somewhere big, create some dope art or start a business, you know, I think that there is, like you have your trusted people who can obviously pray with you and for you, but at some point, like you know, like I do think that there's, I think, the parable of the talents are sitting in that good book for a reason because I think that there is a dynamic of not being so fearful that we bury, but that we actually pursue what it looks like to be able to like, multiply and um and I know that that sometimes can create a lot of fear in people, but it's just because um of of probably other reasons. And so my encouragement is like, regardless of what it is, you at least need to be able to have the ability to like, like, take real internal like, have a real internal check and just make sure that fear and anxiety and, you know, thoughts of inability or fears of outcomes are not motivating you, and then I think that it creates a real level playing field when we're actually looking to hear from God.

Speaker 2: 25:23

You know, my, my, my stepping away in that big transition came from. There was an internal indication I started feeling not well in my, in my soul and spirit, but it was mentorship, that the Lord used to speak something to me that I could not see myself and I knew it was of the Lord. Like there's so many of those moments where and again, what did I say? Like I know my personality and so therefore, whether it's healthy or not, I am more apt to want to keep going than to stop. I know myself, but God knows me better. And so there was a mentorship with deep trust, deep trust that relational equity was there and I was able to make that decision. And then, but on the other side of that, there was still another version of well, you got to wake up today and go find what's next.

Speaker 2: 26:17

And so that's just my encouragement is that, yes, surround yourself with the right people, but then don't end up getting so obsessed that you spend 800 hours on chat, gpt, trying to navigate your life and get everything right and ask 18 people. You know it's like they're come, come on, like there is we know what we're doing here.

Speaker 2: 26:35

Huh, yes, yes. So don't sit there and try to out strategize the fact that you just need to move, um, and so, anyways, yeah, that's that's my. Don't. Don't sit there and try to out strategize the fact that you just need to move and so, anyways, yeah, that's that's mine.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Don't. Don't focus so much on strategy that it leads to inaction. Yeah, I love that. That's a great word, dude and man. I just want to say, as I'm, as we'll wrap up here, it's been such a joy to watch your journey, literally live this out and, just you know, be a, a, be a pivot machine. You know to, to be like no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep moving forward, no matter what roadblocks come. The Lord is with me, I believe, and I'm gonna see this through and I love, I've loved, watching your journey, man. Thank you so much for your time, dude, yep.