Friennnd…WELCOME!

On today’s episode of the Plannter, we are going to talk about something so essential in this walk with the Lord, it’s a must have… FAITH.

What Is Faith?  

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Pretty simple right? We are confident that what we plan on happening or want to happen, is actually going to happen. Even if we cannot see the results… or the plan… or resources… or  the help. Pretty simple! Yeah right. Let’s be real, having faith in things that you cannot physically see, touch, taste, feel, is a very hard thing to come to terms with. I’m not going to lie and condemn someone for not having this kind of faith. Why? Something in our human nature causes us to doubt, due to the fact that not all are senses are being stimulated to physically measure that the wanted outcome is occurring. If we can’t see it, we can’t touch it, to us, its not happening or it cannot be done.

Faith Is Not Mundane

Now, before we get started, lets get the real faith I’m referring to. I’m not just talking about the faith that Jesus is alive and he’s coming back, faith and belief he died on the cross. No. This is a fundamental belief, that as a Christian, you are to know. That’s baby food. Drinking milk when you should be eating solid food (bible reference, laugh if you got it.. no? ok)  I feel as if a lot of us, just have that faith and think that’s the faith God is referring to. As long as I believe in Jesus and have faith in him, I’m good. But what does faith really look like?

  • If God told you to move across the country to a state you didn’t know anyone, had no type of connections, just a vision, would you?
  • If he said that the person you are already engaged to, you should let them go.  Even if you sent the invitations, got the venue, everythaaang, would you?
  • If God told you to quit your 9-5 full time with all demmm benefits, or drop out of college to do ministry or enter another field, could you follow?

These are tough scenarios that people have had to face. The reality is, if God was calling you out of your comfort zone, wherever you are, would you follow the order and go? Have you ever wondered why Abraham is considered the father of our faith?

Abraham the Man 

Story time! Abraham, was not a Jew (they did no exist then) He was from a foreign land where they worshipped idols. God, being the interesting God he is, calls this man out of his land. Promising him, if he goes, he will be made into a great nation, be famous, and will bless others. Lets pause: We can assume, Abraham, has faintly or does not know of God. He is just following a power in which he may or may not have had a relationship with. There was no Bible, Quran or Tanakh present to record what God has done.  He, is leaving to go somewhere… He has no idea of!

It went like this: Yo Abe, pick yo stuff (cattle, wife, maids, resources), lets go!!! We out!  If you come, you get xyz. And he went. Not only that, Abraham, was so confident in God, that the son God had promised him in his old age, he was ready to KILL, due to his faith. He must have believed God would provide a provision, not shame him, do something even greater etc… Kill your own kid? Just think about that. He had that much faith and trust in God. He had that knife ready to go! No wonder he was God’s friend. Or shall we talk about Joshua who prayed to God to stop the sun from setting, so he could demolish his enemies in the greatest battle Israel could have ever fought, to gain the land that God had promised them, and originally his friend Abraham. (Read Joshua 10).

These examples are just to show that these men of God were not asked to do minuscule, small task. They were asked to do things that not only had an effect on them, but also, would have ripple effect on others. In their time and the future. Could you imagine if they didn’t step up to the plate? God is so extra.

God Is Calling Us Out Of Our Ordinary  

So, how can we get to these types of levels of faith and then move? I ask myself this often because faith, this “audacious” faith, (thank you Pastor Furtick) is not easy. I struggle a lot with letting go and allowing the Lord to do his work. I want to be in control, I want to know what happening next, I I I I. I write this because the Holy Spirit has been convicting me of it, therefore, its time for a level up. I know many of us struggle with this concept of not knowing things. But at the end of the day, if we want to see God move, we have to give him room. I’ve come to see that God is a gentleman. He will not force himself on you (unless he has called you to do greater and you’re not listening) he wants to do miraculous and amazing things in our lives for his glory, but we don’t allow him sometimes.

This takes me back to when the disciples tried to remove the demon from a child. Mark 9:14-29 is the full story, but I will only go up to 19. I encourage you to read:

 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

16 “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

Let’s understand something. The disciples have already been given the authority to cast out demons at this point. They were able to preach the gospel and do miraculous signs. But what happened? What was different? Possibly, when they initially tried, the spirit was not budging. It was not ready to release. As their attempts failed, they probably lost a bit of faith, but more importantly, the boys own father, the one asking for the deliverance straight up lost it!!  The people around them seeing the failed attempts egged on this unbelieving environment. It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6) period. No buts or ifs about it. Therefore, no miracle.

This goes to show that even if the situation is looking pretty slim, can you have enough faith to trust God in his timing as well as what he can do? Their lack of faith was not going to save the boy. Therefore, the author of time had to make a house call. To make another example. Jesus did not do miracles for his own good; he knew what he could do. It was for them to be witnesses to his glory and to build their faith. Homie was tired! He was like, y’all really annoying me. I’ve fulfilled all these prophecies, I’ve done more work than any prophet, I have literally read your thoughts and you still don’t believe? You don’t believe I am who I say I am? Still? Have I proven you wrong? Have I not satisfied you? Do you still not trust me? That’s what my bible said lol, maybe I have an edited version. Jesus was either amazed at people’s faith or completely disappointed at the lack there of.

What Are You Doing Here?

So lets take it back to us. The faith that God is calling us to live is not to just live nice lives and be good people. It’s greater than that; he wants to uproot us from our comfort zone. Allow us to do work; with the purpose he has given us, to therefore make moves in our ministries. Faith is not left up to your pastor or leader to give you. It’s up to you to obtain. I’m learning we all have a ministry. Not just limited to our churches. But our jobs, classrooms, friends, businesses, sports teams etc. What is the still voice asking you to do? If we can just do the thing that God has been pressing on our hearts to do for the longest, you don’t know what the result could be. The result may not happen now, tomorrow, next month or next year.

However, keep pressing in. If you know the order came from the Lord, you don’t know whose life you could be changing. If the lord is asking you to stop a bad habit, it may not be for yourself, but that coworker at work who is struggling with the same problem. Seeing you quit, could lead that person closer to stop, therefore, closer to knowing the lord. Always remember, the streets are watching. Your life is not your own. Your ministry could be just to be an example of what the love of Jesus looks like. That’s a lot of pressure right? But the awesome thing about the God I serve, who parted the red sea is, he can provide for you the strength to do what he is asking you to achieve; if you ask him. He can make provisions, so you can do the task he is asking. The question is, do you have the faith he will deliver?

As Christians, I’m learning we are not meant to live boring lives. Our God given visions of what we want to accomplish. And they should scare us. Because then, we’ll know we can’t complete it on our own strength, we would need the Lord’s help. So, LET GO of the idea, if I just stay in this straight line, I’m walking by faith not by sight. It’s a lie! Is God asking you to open a multi million-dollar business that will influence others? Is he asking you to be a makeup artist to have an influence on today’s culture? Is he calling you into the fashion industry to set an example?  Start to evaluate yourself. If you lack faith like I do in some situations, ASK HIM TO INCREASE IT. Nothing wrong with that, better to be honest than a phony. Straight up.  I pray that as the Holy Spirit has convicted me to up my faith, you will also be challenged to up yours. We can encourage each other. Till next time!

Bye Friend!

Btw, here are some resources that I have been using recently to encourage myself in this season.

Book: Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick Click Here

Song: Praise Him in Advance:  Click Here