Have you ever wondered why waiting on God feels so difficult?

In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at Isaiah 40:28–31 and one of the most quoted promises in Scripture: “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” But what if we’ve misunderstood what God is actually promising?

💭 What We’re Talking About in This Episode:

* how waiting exposes what we really believe about God

* how disappointment can distort our view of God’s character

* what Isaiah 40 actually teaches about trusting God

* why God’s promises don’t eliminate the process

* what it really means to renew your strength while you wait

Whether you’re waiting for marriage, healing, direction, breakthrough, or answers to prayer, I hope this conversation reminds you that God’s faithfulness hasn’t changed—even when your circumstances haven’t.

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

So often, especially as believers, we feel pressure to recover quickly, move on quietly, and prove that our pain didn’t really affect us. But what happens when healing isn’t linear? What happens when you still feel grief, disappointment, anger, or exhaustion long after everyone else expects you to be “better”?

In this new episode, I’m having an honest and deeply healing conversation with Charaia Rush. We talk about forgiveness, suffering, disappointment, and the tension of holding on to hope when life feels heavy. We also unpack why the “soft life” may not actually be promised to believers and what it looks like to follow Jesus through seasons that are painful, confusing, and stretching.

If you’ve been sitting in the ashes of heartbreak, grief, disappointment, or delayed healing, this conversation will remind you that God still meets us there.

What We Talk About

* Why “bouncing back” is not always the goal

* The pressure to heal quickly and move on

* What keeps us sitting in the ashes of disappointment

* The relationship between forgiveness and healing

* Why suffering is not evidence that God has abandoned you

* The tension between faith and hard seasons

* How social media has shaped unrealistic expectations of healing

* Why the “soft life” may not be the promise believers think it is

* Holding on to hope when it feels distant or fragile

* Learning to trust God even when life doesn’t make sense

Keep Up With Charaia Rush

🌐 Website — https://www.charaiarush.com

📸 Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/charaiarush

📚 Buy The Myth of Bouncing Back — https://amzn.to/4dti4gC

Keep Up With Me

📸 Instagram: @blkgrltheology

📩 Email: [email protected]

Ready to Go Deeper?

At the Well is my discipleship community for women who don’t just want to consume the Word — they want to be transformed by it. Inside you’ll find weekly teachings, guided reflections, and resources to help you move beyond surface-level faith. If you’re ready to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer, we’d love to have you.

https://community.ashtynmwashington.com

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

In this honest conversation, I am sitting down with Joyce and Stephen Dinkins to talk about love, marriage, and what it truly means to build a relationship with Christ at the center. Drawing from decades of marriage, personal heartbreak, and spiritual growth, they share how God redeemed their individual stories and brought them together with purpose.

From how they met to navigating abstinence and purity in their relationship to blending a family, this episode offers wisdom that is both deeply practical and spiritually grounding. They also open up about the realities of being previously married and divorced and how those experiences shaped the way they approached their current marriage with intentionality, healing, and grace.

This conversation feels like sitting at the feet of wise counsel—honest, refreshing, and full of truth for anyone navigating dating, singleness, or marriage today.

In This Episode, We Talk About:

* How Joyce and Stephen’s paths crossed after seasons of personal transformation

* The role of singleness and spiritual preparation before entering a relationship

* Real struggles with abstinence and choosing purity while dating

* How past marriages and divorce impacted their expectations, healing, and commitment

* What it looks like to build a marriage that is sustained by God, not just feelings

* The difference between cultural dating norms and biblical wisdom

* Letting go of superficial “lists” and learning to recognize God’s best

* The importance of character, service, and spiritual maturity in choosing a partner

Grab your copy of Not Easily Broken today: https://amzn.to/4u5zMNZ

Keep Up With Me

📸 Instagram: @blkgrltheology

📩 Email: [email protected]

Ready to Go Deeper?

At the Well is my discipleship community for women who don’t just want to consume the Word — they want to be transformed by it. Inside you’ll find weekly teachings, guided reflections, and resources to help you move beyond surface-level faith. If you’re ready to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer, we’d love to have you.

https://community.ashtynmwashington.com

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

Join me for a conversation with Christian sexologist, Brittany Broaddus-Smith to talk about something the church hasn’t always handled well: sex and relationships.

In this episode, we get into purity culture, shame, singleness, and what it really looks like to honor God with our bodies without pretending, hiding, or performing. Brittany brings both clinical insight and biblical truth to help us rethink everything we thought we knew about holiness, desire, and intimacy.

If you’ve ever wrestled with your desires, felt the weight of shame, or wondered how to navigate sexuality as a believer, this conversation is for you.

In This Episode, We Talk About:

* Why the church struggles to talk about sex and what’s missing

* The impact of purity culture on women vs. men

* The “sin → shame → repent → repeat” cycle so many believers experience

* Navigating sexual desire and singleness in a real, honest way

* Learning how to bring your full, unfiltered self to God

Keep Up With Brittany Broaddus-Smith

🌐 Website — https://www.theintimacyfirm.com/

📸 Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/christiansexologistbrittany/

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheChristianSexologist

Keep Up With Me

📸 Instagram: @blkgrltheology

📩 Email: [email protected]

Ready to Go Deeper?

At the Well is my discipleship community for women who don’t just want to consume the Word — they want to be transformed by it. Inside you’ll find weekly teachings, guided reflections, and resources to help you move beyond surface-level faith. If you’re ready to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer, we’d love to have you.

https://community.ashtynmwashington.com

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

Brenda Palmer is a bestselling author, speaker, and host of the Life in Perspective podcast. In this conversation, we get honest about what it really means to say yes to God, how to hold contentment and hope at the same time, and why radical obedience costs you more than you think. This one is going to sit with you.

In This Episode We Talk About:

* What seven-year-old Brenda dreamed of and what she’d tell her now

* Why transparency and vulnerability are not the same thing

* The club story (yes, there’s a lesson)

* Holding contentment and hope at the same time, especially in singleness

* Why the church needs more single people in leadership

* The real wealth of being single that nobody talks about

* What intentional discipleship actually looks like

* The question God keeps asking Brenda: is He enough?

Keep Up With Brenda Palmer

📖 The Journey of Yes — CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

🌐 Website — https://www.iambrendapalmer.com/

📸 Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/iambrendapalmer/

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Iambrendapalmer

Keep Up With Me

📸 Instagram: @blkgrltheology

📩 Email: [email protected]

Ready to Go Deeper?

At the Well is my discipleship community for women who don’t just want to consume the Word — they want to be transformed by it. Inside you’ll find weekly teachings, guided reflections, and resources to help you move beyond surface-level faith. If you’re ready to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer, we’d love to have you.

https://community.ashtynmwashington.com

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the Black Girl Theology Podcast, I sit down with Yvette Henry - author of Release, Rest, Remain, co-host of How Married Are You?, and content creator - to talk about burnout, identity, loss, grief, therapy, and what it truly means to abide in Christ.Yvette shares her journey from school teacher to stay-at-home mom and homeschool parent, how grief exposed the "false vines" she was clinging to, and the transformative three-week silence and solitude retreat that reshaped her faith through John 15. Whether you're navigating a hard season, experiencing spiritual dryness, or simply learning how to rest in God, this episode will encourage you to release what you were never meant to carry.

Connect with Yvette Henry:

✨ Grab her new book, Release, Rest, Remain

✨ Check out her website

✨ Follow her on Instagram

Date: February 20, 2026

Podcast: Black Girl Theology

Episode Title: S5E1: Yvette Henry on Burnout, Identity, and Abiding in Christ

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

Waiting seasons have a way of exposing parts of us we didn’t know were there. The questions, the ache, the desire to control — all of it comes to the surface when we’re hoping for something we don’t yet have. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it really means to trust God, not just with my words, but with my weight — the weight of desire, uncertainty, and yearning.

In this episode, I’m sharing something that shifted my perspective on trust, and specifically, trusting God. I pray that it blesses you!

💭 What We’re Talking About in This Episode:

✨ How Dr. Henry Cloud defines trust + a breakdown of his five essentials of trust

✨ What it looks like for Jesus to understand our humanity

✨ A practical look at how to navigate waiting when it becomes painful

✨ How remembering God’s past faithfulness strengthens your present trust

Date: November 20, 2025

Podcast: Black Girl Theology

Episode Title: S4E8: Trusting God When Waiting Hurts

PATREON

We now have a Black Girl Theology community on Patreon! Depending on what level you join, you will receive early access to new podcast episodes, be able to submit topic requests for the podcast, and get access to two private, bonus episodes each season.

The Bestie level has a 7-day free trial, so be sure to check that out. https://www.patreon.com/blackgirltheologypodcast

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

Forgiveness is one of the hardest commands God gives us—and yet it’s one of the most freeing. In this episode, I sit down with Bible teacher and author Yana Jenay Conner to talk about what it really means to forgive God’s way.

Together, we unpack why forgiveness isn’t the same as forgetting and how to process deep hurt without minimizing it.

This conversation is honest, compassionate, and rooted in Scripture. Whether you’re struggling to forgive someone who hurt you or desire to know what the Scripture really says about forgiveness, Yana’s wisdom will help you see forgiveness through God’s eyes and find the healing your heart needs.

💭 What We’re Talking About in This Episode:

✨ What forgiveness really means from a biblical perspective

✨ How to forgive when the person hasn’t apologized or changed

✨ The difference between reconciliation and forgiveness

✨ Practical steps to begin forgiving God’s way

🎧 Listen now and be equipped on how to forgive when someone inevitably hurts you.

👇🏽 Connect with Yana Jenay Conner

* Website: yanajenay.com

* Instagram: @yanajenay

* Grab her new book: Living Beyond Offense

Date: October 23, 2025

Podcast: Black Girl Theology

Episode Title: S4E7: Learning to Forgive God’s Way with Yana Jenay Conner

PATREON

We now have a Black Girl Theology community on Patreon! Depending on what level you join, you will receive early access to new podcast episodes, be able to submit topic requests for the podcast, and get access to two private, bonus episodes each season.

The Bestie level has a 7-day free trial, so be sure to check that out. https://www.patreon.com/blackgirltheologypodcast

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

What do you do when the life you dreamed of doesn’t happen? When your prayers seem to go unanswered and your faith starts to waver?

In this honest and hope-filled conversation, I’m joined by Jennifer Lucy Tyler — speaker, Bible teacher, and author of When Dreams Fall Apart: How Unanswered Prayers Can Deepen Your Intimacy with God. Jennifer opens up about her own journey through disappointment, loss, and rediscovering God’s faithfulness when the very things she hoped for seemed out of reach.

💭 What We’re Talking About in This Episode:

✨ How to process disappointment and grief without losing faith✨ What Jennifer learned about suffering and waiting well✨ How to find peace when your prayers go unanswered✨ Why “when dreams fall apart,” God may be doing something on the inside of you

If you’ve ever prayed for something that didn’t happen — or felt like your faith was shaken by life’s detours — this conversation will remind you that God’s “no” often leads us into a deeper relationship with Him.

🎧 Listen now and be encouraged to trust God even when your story doesn’t go as planned.

👇🏽 Connect with Jennifer Lucy Tyler

Instagram: @jenniferlucytylerGet her new book When Dreams Fall Apart: https://amzn.to/470jpIK

Date: October 9, 2025

Podcast: Black Girl Theology

Episode Title: S4E6: How to Trust God When Prayers Go Unanswered with Jennifer Lucy Tyler

PATREON

We now have a Black Girl Theology community on Patreon! Depending on what level you join, you will receive early access to new podcast episodes, be able to submit topic requests for the podcast, and get access to two private, bonus episodes each season.

The Bestie level has a 7-day free trial, so be sure to check that out. https://www.patreon.com/blackgirltheologypodcast

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m good by myself… I don’t need anybody,” but deep down, you’re tired of carrying life alone?

In today’s episode, we’re talking about the power of community — and more honestly, the fear that keeps many of us from experiencing it.

Over the past few months, I’ve been leaning into community in a deeper way than ever before. Not just showing up for others — but actually letting people show up for me. And let me tell you… It’s been uncomfortable, healing, stretching, and beautiful all at the same time.

💭 What We’re Talking About in This Episode:

* Why so many of us struggle with community even though we crave it.

* The hidden ways fear of rejection, shame, and hyper-independence show up in our lives.

* Practical tips for slowly rebuilding trust and finding safe people.

If this episode encourages you, send it to a friend who always says they’re “fine.” It might be the gentle nudge they need.

Date: October 2, 2025

Podcast: Black Girl Theology

Episode Title: S4E5 | The Power of Community

PATREON

We now have a Black Girl Theology community on Patreon! Depending on what level you join, you will receive early access to new podcast episodes, be able to submit topic requests for the podcast, and get access to two private, bonus episodes each season.

The Bestie level has a 7-day free trial, so be sure to check that out. https://www.patreon.com/blackgirltheologypodcast

Let’s Stay Connected!

Follow Black Girl Theology on Instagram: https://instagram.com/blkgrltheology

Email: [email protected]

Get full access to By Grace Alone with Ashtyn Washington at ashtynwashington.substack.com/subscribe