Step out in Faith (Part 1/2)
I’m sure you have all heard these quotes about faith:
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and “live by faith, not by sight”.
There are so many more, I love quotes!
I want to talk about faith and what it means because it’s not a passive way of moving about in life, it’s actually a courageous way of being and living and what it brings to our life is vitality and the feeling of really being alive.
To step out in faith is to act and not wait for a day when things are easier or more safe (as in “when I have the money I need”, “when my kids have grown up and moved out”, ‘then I can..‘, and it’s not the same as trust.
Faith is more about doing (action), while trust is about trusting that what you do by walking in faith (your actions) are supported by God all the way.
And it’s not about having faith in yourself, but having faith and trust in God who does the work through you.
This requires that we listen to what our intuition is telling us and then we follow it through right away without hesitation or going to the mind to calculate the pro’s and cons and so forth.
When we become sensitive to what the inner voice says and when we trust it, that’s when our faith grows as well.
My intuition or inner vision sometimes speaks to me in colors.
If I have two completely different paths to choose from and I’m a bit confused which I will take, what I always do is that I consult with God and it’s something I do immediately.
I have learned that by becoming still and asking within God reveals to me what I need to know, so that’s what I turn to right away.
I not only get a inner reassurance in the way that it feels obvious/right and I have an inner ‘yes’, but it also shows me the path I should not take as being gray and dull/dead in my minds eye.
And this is not created by me (it’s not about visualization, or creating a vision and then presenting it to God or anything like that!) but its from spirit showing me in visual “feeling-colors”(if that makes sense) what to turn away from and also what to move towards.
How your communication with God is is yours and only you know how that look, but to know how it looks, we need to take the time to actually get still and become attentive to how God speaks to and with us.
It’s really about your relationship and not how other people go about in their own ways of communicating.
Therefore it’s important to get still and attentive to that.
In life there will be trials and tribulations, and we will face many obstacles but we have to keep moving and living and walking by faith, not dwelling and get stagnated in some delusional place of hope and wish that tells us that “I have faith that things will change” (‘someday in the future..’)
Faith asks us to live Now.
Do you feel alive and vibrant, or are you just existing and going by ‘having faith that one day soon..’
God responds to acts of faith, boldness and yes, you will be tested, you will be tempted by the ego to go with it instead of what your heart is calling you to do, you will meet opposition from the world in some way or another, because truth is that everyone’s faith is tested at one point or another.
The ego will most definately try to get you off track and it uses fear or doubt to hold you back, or it attempts to drag you back to the old ways when you don’t know what to do to move forward (if you do go back to old ways, simply bounce back and don’t get caught in any guilt trips, they are all designed by the ego to keep you stuck), and sometimes God also asks us to wait and stay put.
(To not do anything can be disturbing to the ego).
It’s a matter of becoming sensitive to whether the guidance is coming from the ego or if it’s actually God telling you to step back a bit before jumping. We can all grow our intuitive knowing when it comes to those things.
Whenever in confusion the best thing to do is to keep your eyes on God, that’s it.
Keep your focus on God, and God alone.
Get still and listen.
Just as fear cancels out trust, the other way around is true as well: faith and trust cancels out fear and doubt.
We have the choice in every moment to stand firm in our faith and trust, even if we don’t necessarily ‘have it’ at the moment! That’s what it means to keep your eyes on God.
Even if you don’t know; God knows and has everything in control.
Because even if there is doubt, there is also trust at the same time. (Because it is inherent in us; we are that).
A powerful prayer in these moment is to say: “I do believe God, please remove my disbelief”.
And also have a closer look at the actuality of where you put your trust and be honest about it.
Who do you trust; your fears, or God?
When our trust or faith is placed on anything other than God, it will always lead to misery.
When we depend on anything else than God we will feel inadequate, believing that we need something or someone in order to be fulfilled or “saved” from whatever situation we find ourselves in.
But when we rely upon God with absolute confidence life becomes lighter and more colorful, and with that an inner security and sense of peace grows and is established that no difficult times can touch, and our lives will be built upon the rock that God is and our foundation will be complete trust in the one that holds it all.
Yes, there will still be times when we face challenges, but they are met from a different place and will not move us in a direction of discouragement and hopelessness.
In a day or two I will post part 2 where I talk more specifically about what we can do to step out in faith and what it means to live by faith.
You’ll find it here: mariaerving.com/step-out-in-faith-2
Guess who’s enjoying the days.. 🙂
Here’s some pictures of my vegetable garden by the way (pics from last year), see them here.
You may also like these articles:
When God births a dream, I encourage you to step out in bold faith and start to do the work.
Its about being ready and willing to serve God the moment you’re called to some kind of action.
Let neither the fear that you can’t do it nor the hope that something will happen that will make it easier for you hold you back. It’s about what you do – right now – that really matters.
Not what you intend to do when things are easier or better or more convenient.
However insignificant the ideas you receive from Spirit appear, just do them.
In a life of continual communication with God what we need and are called to do will be shown, and are being shown at this very moment and the only question is; Are You Showing Up For God?
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Don’t go through life pretending everything is alright and that you are grateful for your hardships if you’re not there yet. It’s not about putting up a brave face and act heroically if that’s not how we really feel inside.
That would be lying and being insincere. God knows our hearts, we can’t manipulate Truth and expect to transcend anything as long as we’re not being honest with ourselves: mariaerving.com/no-resistance-to-feelings
(At the end of this article you also find a free PDF about Acceptance & Forgiveness).
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oh my god i feel like this article was written just for me.
omg I did repeat my self ……….what can I say but i feel like your inside of me. your guiding me ! i am so tired cause I am over whelmed i have been running everyones life and your the only person whom seems to listen to me except for the guy I meet at the play ground last week…
I’m glad to hear that Mary:) Stay tuned for part two!
I am not sure to laugh or cry or just go cut the grass and clean the yard ! thank you .
I just saw your second comment, I missed it the first time for some reason.
I’m glad to hear that what I share resonates with you and I’m also glad that you have connected with someone that you feel you can talk with (the guy you mentioned).
It’s always nice to meet people that you can be open with and talk with about the deeper things in life isn’t it:)
Now to comment on your last comment;
Do it all! 😀 Cry, laugh, .. get out in the fresh air and do some garden work, that’s great!
Doing some gardening or being in nature is really good for us, it’s very grounding and meditative too, and I enjoy it a lot myself.
I have been out in the backyard today and watered my veggies and flowers etc, and I like doing it barefoot.
Here’s a pic I made last year I think (a barefoot pic with a quote), it’s in my Pinterest album called “Nature”: http://pinterest.com/pin/7881368068754011/ 🙂
Your post about “Are you showing up for God” so resonated with me in what I had to dead with these last few weeks. I understand trusting God, but these last few weeks I was not feeling adequate for a promotion that I was asked to apply for and could be mind. I experienced fear from something outside of myself all the while I don’t normally let myself deal with. It was the kind of frustration of not knowing how this would work at my age and how the transition will work after working in someone else shadow for more than 4 years. All the while I kept saying this fear is not of God and I just have to walk it out. I got the break through after a training session I had to take, and then your post on this topic brought it very clear. Thank You Again!
You’re absolutely right; God did not put the spirit of fear in our hearts! (paraphrasing Jesus)
I’m so glad to hear that you persevered through the challenging times remembering that.
That’s how trust grows, when we see how perfect it all was designed and how even our fear was a part of the process and we can only see it afterwards, when we have moved through it.
When we dare to move through the fears inspite of the intensity of them, always remembering who holds it all, that’s the way that brings joy and vitality to life!
I wish you all the best on your new venture Cassandra! 🙂 (Assuming you applied for and got the promotion).