Christ With Coffee On Ice
Host: Ally Yost
Episode: Expectancy In Desperation
Date: October 4, 2024
Episode Overview
This episode of Christ With Coffee On Ice is an intimate, vulnerable reflection on faith in times of hardship, surrendering to God’s will, and maintaining expectancy even in desperation. Host Ally Yost invites listeners into her personal faith journey, honestly sharing her struggles with doubt, surrender, and patience while grounding everything in scripture. The episode heavily features reading and discussion of the Book of John (chapters 3–6, NLT), with practical encouragements to trust God’s promises and to testify boldly about personal encounters with Jesus.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Vulnerability in Hard Seasons
- (00:10–07:00)
- Ally opens with raw honesty about her challenging day, sharing that her “energy today is probably not going to be giving what my energy is normally giving.”
- She describes a sense of grief that comes with deeper layers of surrender to God, clarifying:
“It’s not that I believe it won’t happen, but with surrender is also accepting that if it doesn’t, you will be okay.” (05:00)
- Surrender, she insists, is both freeing and difficult: there's peace in trusting God's will, but it also feels like a loss of control and can be accompanied by sadness.
2. Surrender, Faith, and Expectancy
- (07:00–18:00)
- Surrender isn’t passive or fatalistic; Ally stresses it’s about laying everything before God, still holding hope but no longer demanding a fixed outcome.
- Notable quote:
“If you’re counting on something more than just counting on the Lord to have his way, you will be devastated… But if you surrender it and say, ‘God, I have peace with however this works out,’… your plans are good and they’re better.” (09:50)
- She illustrates the spiritual maturity required to trust God’s better plans, even when our own hopes seem thwarted.
3. Faith Beyond Circumstances (With Journal Reflections)
- (18:00–29:00)
- Ally reads from her journal:
“How weird to keep trusting your voice and what you’re saying when it’s actually the opposite of what’s happening in the natural right now… Isn’t that actually just the definition of faith?” (23:30)
- She unpacks the biblical definition of “crazy faith”—believing God’s promises even when natural circumstances don’t align.
- Citing the story of Noah:
“Can you imagine Noah… the amount of times he probably did doubt the Lord because it took him so long to build that ark? …That’s the same type of faith… everything God was telling Noah had nothing to do with what was happening in the natural, at least to the naked eye.” (25:20)
- Ally reads from her journal:
4. Scripture Reading: Book of John (Chapters 3–6)
- (29:00–1:23:00)
- Ally reads major passages, pausing for passionate, accessible commentary:
a) Being Born Again (John 3:1–21)
- Jesus teaches Nicodemus about spiritual rebirth, challenging understanding of new life by the Spirit.
- Ally remarks on how faith often “doesn’t even look like what’s happening in real life.”
b) John the Baptist’s Humility (John 3:22–36)
- Discusses John’s joy at Jesus’ success:
“He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” (39:05)
- Ally explains the “wedding” metaphor—Jesus as bridegroom, church as bride—emphasizing the humility and purpose in knowing our place in God’s story.
c) The Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4:1–42)
- Jesus offers “living water” to a Samaritan woman. Ally highlights testimony’s contagious effect:
“Our testimonies… really are important. If that woman did not go back into that village and tell people, a whole lot of people wouldn’t have met Jesus.” (1:08:20)
- On sharing versus protecting intimacy with God: it’s okay to keep deep moments private, but not a secret that you know Christ.
d) Miracles and Signs (John 4:43–John 6)
- Feeding the 5,000 shows Jesus’s abundance:
“They all ate as much as they wanted… there were leftovers. So many leftovers…” (1:18:45)
- Walking on water narrative: Ally encourages listeners to imagine the awe and terror if faced with Christ in supernatural power:
“It is dark, the water is black, there are no city lights… And you just see this silhouette of a human being walking on the water…” (1:20:00)
e) Jesus as the Bread of Life (John 6)
- Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again…” (1:22:45)
- Emphasis: It is faith, not human effort, that leads to life.
“This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (1:22:10)
5. Synthesis: Expectancy In Desperation
- (Throughout, especially bookending the episode)
- Ally ties together the theme of staying expectant even in seasons of desperation or unclear answers.
- Encourages listeners that miracles are not for the worthy, but for the desperate—those who recognize their complete dependence on God:
“I actually can’t live without you…I will not keep breathing without you… in that amount of desperation, y’all, when I tell you I hit the literal bottom of myself in desperation today…” (12:00)
- “Expect that the Lord will not only give you the desires of your hearts but he will definitely exceed it. He will blow your mind. We have to have faith, patience, believe in miracles—which is believing in God… So we are expectant in miracles.” (1:19:38)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the feeling of surrender:
“Sometimes surrender feels like grief… But with surrender is also accepting that if it doesn’t, you will be okay.” (04:45, Ally)
-
Radical faith defined:
“Faith is having hope in the things that are unseen... Faith that God loves and is obsessed with is the type of faith where you go, ‘Okay God, yeah, everything you’re saying is not happening in the natural. But I’m still going to listen to you.’” (24:25, Ally)
-
On boldness in testimony:
“We definitely shouldn’t make it a secret that we know him. We’ve encountered him. We’ve experienced him. And the way he’s changed our lives, that should never be a secret.” (1:08:50, Ally)
-
Miraculous provision and expectancy:
“He gives us everything we want… but then he gives us more than we ever asked for… Expect that the Lord will do it.” (1:19:10, Ally)
-
On Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees:
“It’s the way that Jesus made it so clear, like, laid it all, spelled it out for these people. And they still said, ‘No, that’s crazy to me.’” (1:16:00, Ally)
Important Timestamps for Key Segments
- Openness about Faith Struggles & Surrender: 00:10–07:00
- Journal Reflection & Definition of Faith: 23:00–26:00
- Reading & Commentary, Book of John: 29:00–1:23:00
- Born Again Teaching: 32:00
- John the Baptist and Jesus as Bridegroom: 38:00–41:00
- Woman at the Well, Testimony Matters: 1:05:00–1:10:00
- Feeding the 5,000 & Expecting Miracles: 1:17:30–1:20:00
- Walking on Water, Imagination Exercise: 1:20:00–1:22:00
- Final Reflection – Bread of Life & Faith: 1:22:00–end
Tone & Style
Ally’s style is conversational, encouraging, passionate, and vulnerable. She explicitly invites listeners to “grab your iced coffee” and join her in authentic spiritual community—not as experts, but as real people working out faith together. The episode is marked by joy even in struggle, humor (e.g. stories about thrift finds), and frequent pauses for prayer, reflection, and direct Jesus-focused praise.
Takeaways for Listeners
- Vulnerability and spiritual struggle are not only normal but a place where God meets us most powerfully.
- Surrender is not giving up, but giving over—to trust God’s ways beyond our own.
- Genuine faith persists even when reality seems to contradict God’s promises.
- Testimonies of encountering Jesus matter, and sharing them can change lives.
- Miracles, provision, and supernatural peace are promised not to the perfect, but to those expectant in desperation.
- Scripture is alive and full of nourishment for the soul: reading it together in community brings revival and hope.
Call to Action
- Ally encourages listeners to “show somebody how cool Jesus is” in action and to live out tangible love and faith.
For anyone who hasn’t listened, this episode is an uplifting deep-dive into authentic faith—equal parts real-life struggle, biblical insight, and hopeful expectancy that God’s promises are true even in our most desperate seasons.