The facts of your situation may be scary, but God asks for your faith in His Truth.
“Do what is right and let the consequences follow.”
– Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Tag Archives: faith
Live a Life of Bravery
The cautious do not live at all
The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.
Forget yesterday, it has already forgotten you. And for heaven’s sake, don’t sweat the tomorrow you haven’t even met yet.
We only have one life to live, and the time is going to pass, regardless of whether or not you step out in faith and reach for those dreams.
Put a Ring Around Your Dreams
Commitment. Motivation. Self-discipline. Self-control. Patience.
Just like relationships, our goals take more than just a desire. The beginning will test you more in ways you never dreamed.
Mine is sharing God’s truths with others. That might be writing stories to inspire others or encouraging hearts around the table.
But there are times when I feel like calling it quits.
There are days when I’m tempted to throw my hands up in frustration and give in.
There are nights I go to bed convinced God chose the wrong person, and then wake up in the morning even more discouraged and confused.
There are obstacles that feel like dealbreakers, a circling of ideas that seem to go on forever, droughts that will seem unbearable, and resistance that easily lead to an undoing if I let them.
There are days when the devil is determined to get his way. And on those days, he is relentless in trying to rip this dream apart.
Maybe this sounds like days you’ve had too.
A couple months ago I decided to take my goals to the next level; I put a ring on it. This promise carries financial weight, responsibility, and accountability; I hired an assistant.
Making this commitment is one way that keeps me from throwing in the towel and giving up.
This helps me keep my pledge to God, grounded in faith and wholly non-negotiable.
If you don’t have a sense of commitment, your dream is very likely to fail. Make it a covenant that runs to the core of your being.
If giving up is an option in the back of your mind, you’re already there.
Step into your dream with a level of commitment that is unmistakable and undeterred.
You have to have faith that says, ‘no matter how hard it gets, I will not give in.’
No matter how great the obstacle, you can work it out.
No matter how tempted you are to quit, you can make this dream work.
You have to know in your heart that God will bring you through any hardship and trial the devil throws your way, if you just stay the course, and remain in God’s will.
Fear is the devil’s playground and he loves dragging us there with him. But no decision based on fear is ever the right choice.
A life of faith says if I step out and do the right thing, God’s blessing will follow.
Faith is believing that God is
always in control. And that he always has your best interest in mind, even when things don’t work out as you might expect.
The blessings of living out this God-given dream are immense. There is nothing more satisfying than living in the call He’s placed in your heart. There is nothing more intimately rewarding than experiencing God’s hand in and through you.
Don’t miss out on God’s greatest blessing for your future. Seal your commitment and then watch the floodgates of blessing open wide.
Breaking through and not breaking down
When God has a breakthrough for us, the devil brings a breakdown. The more faith you live with, the more fear the enemy stirs up.
Essentially, the enemy releases resistance to hold you back, but God uses that resistance to strengthen the heart muscle for an increase. When you are met with push back, this is the time to push through the burn and work that faith muscle to exhaustion.
Hold out your hope! Rest is around the corner.
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Exercise doesn’t evoke excitement from many people. But we push through to build endurance. We burn out muscles til tiny tears break into the deeper fibers of our strength, and repair themselves when we rest. This is what produces results! Here’s where we see the increase.
Here’s another truth about breakthroughs: You can’t live out today on yesterday’s faith.
As your strength increases, so must the weight of resistance and level of endurance. As you stretch those muscles to reach new goals today, it will require heavier lifting and longer distances to see the benefit and growth tomorrow.
Yesterday’s routines won’t work on what’s required of you today.
You may need the edge of additional experience or education. Perhaps it’s an increase in peace or prayer. Maybe it’s more like-minded relationships or intentional living.
If you’re ready for the rise, it’s time to press into the pain and prepare for a gain.
Here’s a final story I want to share with you.
Last week, I woke up the morning of an important meeting that would circle the completion of a book I’m writing. Locking up my house before dawn even broke the horizon, I stood stunned in shock. It appeared as if a violent storm took place within the confines of my car. 
Opening the driver side door, I noticed a mess in my passenger seat; a scattering of invitations to church that once sat neatly in the console.
Is it strange my heart smiled with compassion at this?
It reminded me that God meets us all no matter where we’re at or how deep we’re in it. We could be making a mess of a situation and He’s there in it, reaching out to invite us back to Him.
Naturally, my hope is that one of these invitations to church made it into the burglar’s bag of my belongings and in this moment is nudging him/her from a nightstand. Not because I care about getting my stuff back (although the RayBans would be nice), but moreso that a hurting heart who felt there was nowhere else to turn that night would find Jesus is all he/she ever needed.
Maybe your heart is breaking over a lost dream or relationship… God is meeting you there. Maybe you are breaking through… He is on the other side waiting on you.
Lean into the resistance to see results. Whatever you’re facing, just remember a showdown with the devil is God’s opportunity to show off; He is the one and only, great I AM.
Giving Life To Faith
Fresh off of ‘vacation’, I have found myself back to rushing through the day, allowing small frustrations to build up into bigger problems. Today, the last straw came when my pharmacy turned a prescription pick-up into a two day process. With no air conditioning in my car, the temperature in my mind was rising as fast as the heat inside.
I noticed a tire shop nearby. Last week, I had a nail that flattened mine to the rim, when I also realized there was no air in the spare. This seemed like a wise time to fill that up and not entirely waste the 30 minute drive here. I pulled into the garage and popped the trunk. The serviceman starts to laugh as I remove a pair of rollerblades, helmet, overnight bag stuffed with clothes, a bag of recreational equipment, a cooler, blanket and car chalk just to get to the spare underneath.
Now you may think I’m planning for a picnic in the park, but let me just tell you the reason for all this; I simply want to be prepared for a whim. The conversation centered on my skates, when I heard from behind, “Hey, how’s it going?” I turned to see my friend Jeff. We began to talk about my recent trip to Italy but it didn’t take long for the service on the ‘donut’ to be complete. I wrapped up our conversation in favor of a pressing schedule
As I drove away, I realized there was peace in my heart. I knew right then that God had placed my friend there in a time of stress, when I needed connection. ‘What would happen if I blew off the remaining list of to-do’s I was already behind with, and conversed a bit more? What if I set aside my schedule more often in favor of these uplifting exchanges?’ I wondered. Without much hesitation, I turned my car around and rejoined my friend as he waited on his vehicle.
I think it’s quite amazing that if we choose to look outside of our perspective on life, we can see God shifting the sand in our favor. I was late getting to the gym tonight, but I got there with a full spirit instead of one on empty. My soul was no longer burdened with stress but soothed by the conversations with a friend. I felt my confidence restored after I kicked ‘hurry up, you’re late for your schedule’ to the curb. And when I got to the gym, I ran longer and lifted more weights than I set out to. It wasn’t a coincidence; my friend was in the right place at the right time.
Putting action behind your faith requires that you get back up, dust yourself off, and say, “I’m not going to stay down. There’s still time left in the day to turn my heart around.” I encourage you today to let your actions give life to your faith as you step up to new levels of His favor and blessing in your life!
Oh, my gracious God, forgive me for forgetting the favor you give me each day in every circumstance. Thank You for Your Word that builds faith in my heart, thank you for friendships that restore life when I’m down, thank you for your Spirit that refreshes my soul. Open my eyes to the opportunities you are work into my day. I ask for your mighty strength to choose life and action behind this faith I profess. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Building Faith For The Future
Sometimes our circumstances can cause anxiety but what I’m here to remind you is that despite the outward situation, our good and loving Father will always bring something better out from the ruins that gives all glory back to God for something so marvelous. Most of the time, His work is being done in us during the ‘wait’ for a physical condition to change. This time of patience and trust in Him builds a faith for the future.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)
It scares us to lose these necessities, but honestly, most of us don’t consume the basics of these needs. We buy into the pleasures of food and clothing and what frightens us most about losing them is that we would lose some human praise or admiring glances if we didn’t have nice clothes and that our taste buds would miss the rich flavor of certain foods.
And to this Jesus responds: If you are gripped by anxiety over these things, you have lost sight of the greatness of life. Life was not given primarily for physical pleasures or the approval of man, but for something greater—the enjoyment of God. The things of this world can not provide the greater things of life—the pursuit of God’s gracious favor, the love and joy of His spirit and the hope of eternity in His presence.
There’s another problem with anxiety though; it leads to sinful actions and attitudes. Anxiety about finances can cause coveting, greed, hoarding and stealing. Anxiety about succeeding at something can make you irritable and abrupt. Anxiety about relationships can make you withdrawn, indifferent and uncaring about other people. Anxiety about how someone will respond to you can make you cover over the truth and lie about things. If worry could be conquered, a lot of sins would be overcome.
Here are some reminders from Jesus and Paul about God’s promises to battle unbelief:
“Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
“So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
“My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).
“I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).
“If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).
“…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3–5).
“Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).
“none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:8–9).
“He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
“He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
“He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
Rest on the promises of God and find your security in His Truth. I pray you find peace as you look back at your own testimony and see that He’s never let you go yet. Time after time, our great Provider has been there holding your hand, sometimes carrying you through it. My hope is that His word will reign supreme in your heart and mind as comfort that He will never let you go. Your solid stance on the Rock will keep you steady, though the winds may blow, you cannot be carried away with the shifting sands. When you wake up on the other side, you will see that just as He provided a way in this situation, He will also do it again and again and again. He is greater than your circumstance! Believe it and let Him build your faith for an even greater future.
Excerpts from Battling Unbelief by John Piper.
More Than A Job, It’s About the Journey
There was a time I packed up my car and drove hundreds of miles on a word from God that there was a job awaiting me. There were no openings and over several months God brought many interview opportunities my way.
Today I have a new job and it’s not in the place God called me to a year ago. But I still believe in what He told me. You see, perhaps it was never about actually getting that job as it was about the journey there. Some serious pursuit, passion and patience went into His call. My faith and hope in following God into the unknown, even when it didn’t look like my version, seemed mostly crazy by friends and family. Maybe all along, it was about increasing my hope, stretching my faith, trusting in God, growing my pursuit in His calling, than it ever was about the final destination. And maybe even the ‘let down’ of never actually getting that job wasn’t really a let down at all. Maybe it was about still having faith to follow God, even if… His leading didn’t look like mine.
And I learned one more thing in that journey. I spent more time anticipating and daydreaming about the future, that I missed out on enjoying the daily adventures getting there. I had a tunnel vision focus on the result and missed opportunities of joy in the ‘here and now’. I think it’s interesting that we so often want to know God’s plan for us, but the truth is, we’d sit in anticipation for ‘tomorrow’ and miss out on today.
Take Hold Of Your Daily Adventure
Have you ever considered the adventure God offers us each day with the circumstances that arrive? An adventure is defined by ’a bold, usually risky undertaking’, an ’exciting undertaking’, ’a very unusual experience’ and ’hazardous action of uncertain outcome’. Doesn’t that sound like faith?! Then why do we think and speak of a roller coaster or treasure hunt as an adventure and not so much our everyday faith walk with Christ? Why do thoughts of that first big dip on an amusement park ride invoke such deep anticipation and enthusiasm while our spiritual journey of the highs and lows each day seem meager in comparison?
I received word late in the afternoon just three days ago that my job would be ending mid week. I had all kinds of questions for God at first and then sat back in my chair for a moment to ponder a deeper meaning within. My head lifted a little higher as I recalled His provision is never failing… my heart was glazed in peace.
As I laid in bed that night I couldn’t help but become giddy about the adventure He and I were about to take together! Its in these times of closed doors, that if we allow, our confidence in the flesh is surrendered to the faith that our Almighty Provider is going to open another (Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9). Taking it further, we know its going to be good (Romans 8:28)!
Everything on this earth, all creation and life were created to give glory to God. He gives us these experiences to show Himself glorious, supreme to any measure of supernatural human strength we could possibly muster up. For it is only by the grace of God that we are even still standing!
He calls us to a place of faith and rest in Him that He will bring goodness to us if we believe. He goes before us and with us (Deuteronomy 31:8). Now that is some kind of adventure! Everyday we have this opportunity available to us if we’re willing to let go of the reins and hand over our hearts fully to God. This ’job loss’ has me excited with anticipation for the glory of God to be revealed! And when this adventure is over, I know I’m gonna stand up and say “Let’s do it again!” Daily living with ’no hands’ in surrender to Christ is the best adventure life has to offer! If its not an adventure to you, I dare say you’re not totally surrendered to Him.
He provides
I’m on a journey. Following the promptings of God in pursuit of the place He has set aside for my hands to work. With most of my belongings in storage, I traveled with just my car, a few outfits, books and a computer. A friend and her roommate graciously allowed me to stay on an air mattress for a couple weeks. Things have taken longer than expected as the third week is coming to a close and I am still empty-handed.
Last night I received a voice message. The place I was scheduled to move into today, is no longer vacant. My heart sank. I’ve been feeling the weight I’ve placed on my friend by allowing me to stay this long. So I crawled to my knees with a hurting heart in need of His healing and provision. I cried out for His mercy and wept in praise as I felt His arms holding me. As I left the floor to shower up for the day, I heard a chime from my phone. An email said “We’ve found a match for you” from a roommate search website. Confused as to how they found me, I opened it. A woman my age is looking for a roommate to move in today. I responded and tonight I hold the keys to a room I can call my own 🙂