Journal Entry ~ 09/18/19

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23

Faith is believing the Word of God and acting on it no matter how we feel because God promises a good result. This is critical to the Christian life. Faith discounts how we feel and boldly acts upon the Word of God. 

I am so thankful for the trials God has brought me through to increase my faith. Of the different ways that the fruit of the Spirit manifests itself, I think faith is the strongest in me. He has shown up faithful in some of the most difficult situations in my life, leaving me with an unmoving trust that our God is sovereign and His plan is best - always and in all ways. 

As  a young believer, my faith was more in what He would do for me than who He is, and so God has spent a number of years teaching me and growing my understanding of faithfulness. Resting my faith in what God would do for me kept my eyes focused on the solution to my problem. I've always struggled with control issues, and I'm exceptionally solution oriented - when I see a problem, I have a tendency to start working on a solution. 

But God's plan to grow my faithfulness included multiple trials where He took away my ability to control the situation or the outcome. He has allowed impossible situations that left me powerless to control, all so He could demonstrate His power to me. I have been through so many trials where God has shown up faithful every single time in unimaginable ways. He has blown me away with His plan, and my faith in Him has been increased beyond measure. 

Back to our definition - Faith is believing the Word of God and acting on it no matter how we feel. We must choose to obey God even when we don’t feel like obeying. If we allow our emotions to dictate our response, we remain on the roller-coaster of life. We have to learn to obey His commands despite how we feel. 

Here’s a great example - wives tend to want to talk to their husbands about everything, and we generally like to over-talk things, especially if our husbands are unbelievers or acting in a way contrary to Scripture. We often feel we must say something or they will never change. But faith discounts how we feel and causes us to boldly acts upon the Word of God. First Peter 3:1 says, “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.” We are called obey the Word and keep quiet - this obedience gives God the room to move, and increases our faith when we see Him show up. 

Faith is doing what God has asked us to do and trusting Him to do the part that only He can do. 

Emotions are not wrong - God creates us with emotions to bring beauty into our lives. Think about the most important moments in your life - emotions color those moment in a beautiful light. But they were never meant to be our master, they were never meant to be the driving force in our decisions. 

When we are feeling frustrated or anxious, we can choose to have faith no matter how we feel - but remember, we can’t just will ourselves to have more faith, we need to grow the Spirit inside of us. I've learned that a faith based on who God is over what He does frees Him to show us what He can do. God is amazing, He can do the impossible, and He is faithful to us -understanding that and knowing that deep in our souls is faithfulness, and that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Press on ~ you are loved 💗