P31OBS 5 Habits of a Woman Who Won't give up: She moves forward in Faith

There's a Theme here for sure

For my business coaching, we are reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.  It's all about how successful people do little steps every day that pay off handsomely in the end.  The message of the book is that it is what we perceive to be the LITTLE THINGS that lead up to the radical changes and big successes that we want to see.  It could be something as simple as tracking your food shopping habits which is what my task was to do this week.  Just the first week in doing it, I noticed some really positive changes both in my bank account and behavior.

So here we are with the fifth step of Faith:  She moves forward in Faith.

It's the little steps of Faith that lead us to radical change and to where we need to be.  It could be as simple as deciding to pray for someone with no name and no face but a stirring from the Holy Spirit.  That small step of faith will not only change that nameless faceless person that only God knows but also change your life as well.

Moving Forward in Faith is scary but staying stuck is scarier

I grew up with no Faith and nobody around me had any faith either.  They had religion but no faith. 

You may ask:  How can you be so judgmental to say that these folks had no faith?  You don't know what's in their heart!  

I don't know what was in their hearts but I know what their lives looked like and there was no evidence of faith.  ZERO.  There was lots of talk about God and church cliches but there was no evidence of faith.  There were no miracles.  There were no risks.  There were no "How on earth did that happen?" stories to tell.  

Moving Forward in faith is scary.  It requires risk.  It requires saying Yes to the destination before you know where you're going.  It requires saying, "I have no clue what's going to end up happening here but I believe God.  On the mountain of the Lord it shall be provided."  

It requires putting it all on the altar and willing to kill your own dream even if it means you lose what you wanted most.  

It requires going into places that look scary and overwhelming but believing that God is with you and that he will never fail.

It requires tuning out the opposing voices and deciding to move forward because you just believe that this is what God has called you to.

It requires believing that dead situations which stink and are very messy can be resurrected, restored, and redeemed all for the glory of God.

Moving Forward in Faith is scary but you know what's scarier to me?  

Staying Stuck and ending up NOWHERE

Oh yes that's scarier to me.  Living a "safe" life that's unfulfilled and with regrets for memories.  To me that's scarier than taking steps of faith forward.  It's the saddest thing in the world to watch folks who have little to show in their lives because they lived in fear their whole lives.  They were afraid of taking risks, They were afraid to blow past the opposition, They were afraid to do new things, They were afraid of disappointing others, They were afraid afraid afraid and now all they have are the shoulda, coulda, wouldas.

So while taking steps of faith forward can be scary, contentious, and often frustrating...I think the alternative is much worse!

It's a PROCESS

You know I've been pretty candid in that I don't know the specifics of where this Sacred Journey is leading.  I think that is one of the beauties of this blog.  After some of the dots are connected and this particular  portion of the journey is archived for reference, I'm excited that people can actually read through and understand that it's a PROCESS.

That's one of the themes of the Compound Effect as well.  It's all a process.  I am thankful for Nicki Koizarz emphasizing this point too.  While reading this fifth step of faith, I realized that One of the reasons I gave up on church was because I was tired of hearing about Insta Blessings and Insta Breakthroughs.  It doesn't work like that for most people.  For most of us we need to be refined and put through a process in order to be ready to receive.  I think a lot of churches are falling for the Insta Blessing/Breakthrough deals to keep members engaged.  It is much more honest to tell people they may be on the road to Jericho a lot longer than they anticipated but they must move forward in faith that this process will get them where they are supposed to be.

I will keep moving forward in Faith!

To God be the Glory