Today’s lesson is all about…
FAITH.
Most people think that “having faith” is about being religious. It’s not.
Faith doesn’t imply what most people think.
And believe it or not, we all live by faith.
Faith is simply getting into your car, leaving your home, believing (in faith) that the person next to you will not run into you.
Faith is simply going to bed at night with the assumption (faith) that you’ll wake up the next morning.
Faith is simply getting on a bike and riding, trusting that you won’t fall over and crash.
Faith is a part of our everyday life only we aren’t probably getting as much out of it because we aren’t “fanning the flame.” We don’t actually realize it’s a gift that needs to be opened…
And today, that’s what we’re going to do… we’re going to FAN INTO FLAME the gift that was given to us… our faith.
Last week, if you’re tuning in to these weekly Lessons, we talked about fear. YOU CAN READ MORE HERE. Or watch the full episode HERE.
We all have fears:
- Fear of failure
- Fear of success
- Fear of loss
- Fear of judgment
- Fear of losing identity (this just means the story of who you think you are)
- Fear of losing control
- Fear of time
- Fear of the future
- Blah, blah, blah…
I even had someone reach out to me after last week’s Lesson and ask:
How do I live fearless?
Honey. This is NOT about living “fearless.”
This is about learning how to live despite the fear.
Your fear will not go away until you walk right through it.
You have to face it. You have to come to terms with it. You have to learn how to focus on something BIGGER than the fear.
Well, how do you do that?
Glad you asked.
Faith.
It’s about learning how to walk by faith.
Travis and I just did a whole podcast on faith because we find it to be THAT important in your journey. It’s like THE INGREDIENT of ALL INGREDIENTS.
And too many of us miss the point.
Faith, by definition is belief without evidence.
It also means “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”
Hebrews 11:1 says, “It’s the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It’s also translated, “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Here’s why this is and isn’t spiritual… And I talk about it in my book EXTENSIVELY:
What you want, what you’re currently dreaming, and what your reality says are two totally different things.
If you want to lose weight and currently, you’re 50 pounds over weight…
If you want more connection and passion in your marriage and currently, you’re not any of those things…
If you want to start your business and currently, you’re at a job you don’t like barely getting by…
What you want and what you have are two totally and completely different things. And to get your current reality to look like the life that you want, you must have faith.
DREAMING REQUIRES FAITH.
There’s 2 parts to this…
Step 1. It’s having faith – trust, belief, assurance, substance – that what you have can be transformed by what you want!
To get from where you are to where you want to be REQUIRES faith.
It requires it!
It’s not just nice to have, it’s a requirement.
To get your butt from point A to point B requires FAITH – trust, belief, assurance, substance – that you can get there.
That’s step 1.
Step 2. Faith means moving. Going. Actually letting your legs take you from where you are to where you want to be.
The fear doesn’t go away UNTIL YOU MOVE THROUGH IT.
We want to be fearless…
STOP trying to be fearless and instead be FULL OF FAITH.
How do you do that?
- You first decide where you want to be. You get clear on the dreams God’s put within you.
- You build your conviction and your resolve. YOU BUILD YOUR BELIEF. Either you believe it or you don’t. It’s not about making a believer out of someone else, it’s about making a believer out of you. ONLY YOU can build your belief.
- You go. You show your dreams, God, your goal that you mean business and you live your life like it.
This is why faith is a gift! In 1 Timothy 1:6 it says, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…” What is the gift? Look at verse 5, right before it… “I am reminded of your sincere faith..”
You have been given the gift of faith but YOU, You, yes YOU must fan it into flame.
And you must know that the gift is only strengthened when we use it. Just like a muscle.
Weird.
That means, it has to be tested, it has to encounter resistance, it has to feel some pressure to grow. Why?
Because a faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted!
That means, conflict, obstacles, troubles tempt us to bring out the worst in us but God can use it ALL to bring out the best in us!
This then is key to seeing the manifestation of our dreams fulfilled. Hope fulfilled is walking faith.
BOOM.
I’ll say it again:
Hope fulfilled is walking faith.
The key to seeing our dreams fulfilled is letting the pressure, the fear, the obstacles refine us and position us!
The Bible says, “Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trial of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double – minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1: 2-8).
It goes onto says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
This is not about living fearless.
You’re human.
It’s about living full of faith.
It’s about a walking faith.
Like Indiana Jones, Moanna, Martin Luther King Jr., Esther, YOU… it’s about taking the next step and the next step, one day at a time, one ILLUMINATED step at a time until all the pieces of the puzzle come together.
Because that’s what faith is: one illuminated piece of the puzzle at a time.
So today, worry less about “living fearless” and instead, FAN THE FLAME you’ve been given, use the gift you’ve been given and live FULL OF FAITH.
