"Faithing It"

You see your faith to God in the spiritual is like Gas to a car in the natural! We cannot move a car without Gas. - Heather Lindsey

Recently, I have been studying faith at a deeper level. We know that everyone on this earth was given a measure of faith. It is a gift from God. So many of us get stuck in a routine and aren’t even aware of the dangers of it. For example, many times we may get comfortable. Go to church every Sunday, shout, post about it, have dinner and I won't even it. We cannot be spiritually transformed and elevated to the next level in our faith without having faith. So, what is faith? "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen." Pastor Touré Roberts of One Church LA defines faith as your currency, your means of exchange with God. Hebrews 11:11 tells us that “Faith is the substance of the things hoped for, and the evidence of the things unseen.” According to my Student Life Application Bible, NLT faith is confident assurance that we hope for is going to happen.

Sometimes you just have to faith it till you make it. Many times we want everything to be perfect before we are obedient to God. We want our finances to be in order, our jobs, our emotions. We really rely on our WAVERING emotions? How does that make sense? You must possess a blind faith to walk it out. You won’t be able to see it. In this process, I believe God is your guide and we are walking through the wilderness with a blindfold on. Recently, I moved to Milwaukee to attend University and I made a new friend! I believe it is the start to a beautiful friendship because our purposes aligned. Anyway, she is a part of a mission team and moved here from Los Angeles. I told her that it was a HUGE FAITH MOVE! To just uproot with no job. Faith is an action word and it is all about your perspective. For example, you tell some person A this and they reply saying “What, that sounds crazy! How are you supposed to survive with no job? You have nothing. Through Person B’s eyes, they’re like “Aha! Through Christ Jesus, I have EVERYTHING! Look at a scripture that tells us about a man who possessed great faith. Matthew 8:5-13 states “And When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a roman officer came and pleaded with him. “Lord my young servant lies in bed, racked with pain. Jesus said, “Come and I will heal him.” The officer then said “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my house. Just say the word from where you are and my servant will be HEALED! Verse 10 reads and when Jesus heard this, he was amazed!!

So, Jesus was amazed at the Roman soldier’s faith. He declared in the next scripture he never saw any faith like that, in all of Israel! How many of us need to increase our faith game? I know I do! In the meantime, let’s look at another man who possessed a great amount of faith that God found favor within him. In Romans 4, it tells us that Abraham believed God, so God declared him as righteous. Back in Genesis, we get the full visualization of Abraham walking with God and leaving his father’s house. The most amazing thing about Abraham is that he didn’t waver in his faith and because of this he was blessed and made the “father of many nations.” One of the most famous stories of Abraham includes his wife, his wife Sarah. Abraham and Sarah wanted a son. However, Sarah was barren. Later, Abraham became a father at the age of 100 years old and Sarah was 99. Romans 5:20 states “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger and in this, he brought Glory to God. Two things that keep us from growing closer to God in our faith is:

1. Comparison
2. Emotions

A comparison is the thief of joy! Sometimes comparison can be all around us and it is easier because we are living in the era of social media and it has a tremendous impact on our lives. Many people scroll on Instagram and think “Oh, she’s so pretty!” Or “he’s got it all together.” Realistically, we only see a glimpse into other’s, you don’t see the bad. You will never be satisfied with your portion when looking at someone else’s plate. Looking at their portion will not make your Plate bigger! This is where contentment comes in. 1 Tim 6:6 tell us “But godliness with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it.

Another influencer of our faith is emotions. Our emotions are usually referred to as a negative but contrary to popular belief we were made to “feel.” We are human, and we possess emotions. It shouldn’t be treated like unnatural because even Jesus Wept. Meaning even Jesus had emotions and relates to us on this level. However, this is not a free pass for us to let it influence our actions. For example, God may have told you to start a blog or write a book and you don’t act on it because you don’t “feel” like it. This is an excuse. I know at least for me, you won’t always feel proficient enough, but God equips us. We don’t have it all together because God loves us!

I want to encourage you all to approach this week by faith and be in full control of your emotions by leaving you with this verse, 1 Corinthians 15:58 “With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.”

Prayer: Father, I know that I sometimes get anxious when I get see you working. Help me to consult you first and have blind faith. Keep me focused on my portion and bind that thief of comparison and to be led by my emotions. Help me on today and every day. I love you. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Be encouraged, Nikia A. Handy

IG: @thepurposeroom

FB: @tpmministries