Why Keeping The Faith Is Important

Yesterday's church service was one of the most powerful services I have heard since first attending CCV. It was very emotional and spoke volumes to me. I couldn't help but feel that God was speaking to me through our Pastor. It's amazing when you feel that strong presence and know it is our Lord doing and working in amazing ways to get to you. It's moments like these that I truly try to hold onto with all my might. I'm at a loss of words for how wonderful it feels to get that connection with God...but it's one of the best experiences ever.

I have been reading this phenomenal book that I was given to as a Christmas present from one of my best friends. It's called, "The Shack." This book has completely transformed me in ways I never imagined (more on this in another post), but everything I have been reading about in these last few chapters was reinforced during the Sermon.

As I sat there listening, Pastor Don, listed out the 6 ways in which God builds our faith. Each step is equally important. Each step also requires extreme patience, devotion, and faith. Faith is where it all begins. Faith is what brings us on this incredible journey with God. It is what keeps our dreams alive and how they come true. This is why I wanted to name my blog, "Living in Faith." I live in faith in every aspect of my life, because without it...God wouldn't feel my love and relationship with Him.

Here are the steps on how God builds your faith:

Step 1: Dream - dreaming allows us to think beyond.
We all have dreams, some come to fruition, but others don't. Have you ever wondered why some have and some haven't? What is your dream? Is it something you've always been very passionate about? Or maybe it's so HUGE that you don't think it could ever happen? The truth is...our dreams will never come true when we do them alone. God wants to build a relationship with us and in doing so, we share our dreams with Him and He helps us willingly and lovingly.

Step 2: Decision - it's important to make a decision about your dream.
You can dream endlessly, but what good is that if you won't make a decision? Of course it's not something to take lightly...but how will you know if it will never come true if you don't at least try? You cannot move forward in faith and hold on to the past.

Step 3: Delay - a delay is NOT God's denial.
Now I first handedly 100% understand this notion. Believe me, I have been delayed in my dream many times. Times where I always thought God was telling me no. But in all reality, God was just telling me, "not yet." So I'm sure you're wondering...why does God even want to help us with this dream if he's just going to tell us to wait or make us struggle along the way? Because it's important to know and understand that your faith needs to be tested, before it's trusted. God wants to see how genuine you are in your faith. He wants to see if our faith stands through it all.

Step 4: Difficulty - our response to problems validates our faith.
Just as I mentioned above, we will struggle and face hard times during our journey. But these situations will either make us or break us. It's important to keep going and to persevere. The story of Abraham and his wife Sarah is a perfect example of this.

Step 5: Dead end - NOTHING is impossible with God.
This is HUGE. God is capable of doing it all. He allowed Moses to walk on water, He blessed Mary and Joseph with Jesus. There is nothing that God cannot do. So it's important to remember that, when you feel like you are doing everything and anything and feel like you are going nowhere. Believe me, I have felt this time and time again. Praying to God and asking Him for His help and guidance is what will get us by these moments of hardship.

Step 6: Deliverance - when we put the situation in God's hands, we get to see Him work.
How true is this? When we take things into our own matters, God doesn't get the praise He deserves. We begin to lose faith and feel like we don't need Him to provide and help. We become dangerously independent and begin moving away from Him. We start feeling like we are capable without Him and we give ourselves the credit. However, when you let God decide what happens, we are eternally grateful. We thank Him and give Him the praise He truly deserves. The relationship that we have with Him continues to thrive.

What step are you in with your faith? Maybe you are stuck in step 5 and feel like you are going nowhere? Or maybe you are experiencing step 3 and feeling frustrated because you are being delayed in doing what you want? Or maybe you are even experiencing step 6 and you feel the power of deliverance after all that you have endured and realize that it was all necessary to get to where you are now?

I would love to hear what step you are in your journey in the comment section below <3

-Becky