May 2023 - Faith

What is faith? Faith is defined as: "complete trust or confidence in someone or something." This type of faith is one that is often misplaced by being granted to human beings.

But no matter how trusting and confident you are with someone, at some point, they will let you down. That type of pain is what creates wounds, and those wounds are what causes us to distrust.

That's why "complete confidence in someone or something" is best placed in God. God is the only one that you can put your "complete" faith in. 

Now, that's not to say that you cannot have confidence and trust in human beings, but it is to say that there is only one God spot in your life where "complete" confidence and trust, "complete" faith, can be placed - because God is the only one that can truly fulfill it.

And that faith, when put in God, is the substance of things hoped for. It is the reason we are able to hope. When faith walks out, doubt walks in - and hope disappears. We need faith in order to have hope.

In my own journey, I grew up with a more religious background of performance and rules - which included heavy amounts of shame when the requirements weren't met. This made my own faith journey a struggle.

I knew there was more, and I wanted more, I just didn't know where it was or how to obtain it. So, I gave up and let go of my faith. But, in doing so, I also started to operate in a lot of hopelessness.

During that time, life's situations felt heavier and bigger than ever before. It was only when God led me on a path to jump-start my faith again that my hope was able to be restored.

So the next time your trust or hope levels are low, take a look at your faith - they are all tied together more than you may think!