Never Give Up!

As I sit hear writing this blog, I feel a pull in my soul - a conviction, a strong emotion toward the words I am typing. I don't know about anyone else, but when you go through a trying time in life and when you feel completely burdened and hopeless you have two choices; to put your head down and keep walking forward and persevering OR alternatively, to run, hide and quit. The first step in making a positive change or working through a trying time is to see things from a different perspective. What you have experienced in your life; the wisdom, opinions and knowledge you have gained - those things determine what you see. When you have been told your entire life that you are not enough, that things are too difficult to overcome and that there is no hope or reason to live and love fully, we are going to define ourselves by what we DO NOT do. Some of us focus on performance, working and working so hard, hoping that these works will make us feel better, but they do not. Too many of us are missing out the greatest life because we are distracted by things that do not matter.

Fear is the opposite of faith, but both require that you believe in something that you not seen. We have a choice to live in fear of our futures and what they may hold OR to live in faith. When we are going through difficult times; addictions, relationship issues, family issues, financial distress it is important to rely on God and to live in faith. Faith requires 3 important things:

1. Believing even when we do not see
    - We do not see the wind, we see the affects of the wind - yet we do not doubt that wind exists. We may not see that movement, we may not see changes we may have so much going against us and so much adversity, but we have to pray, persevere and assuredly believe that God has something in store for us on the other side.

2. Believing even when we see no change
- We cannot give up on our faith, we have to keep relentlessly seeking and believing no matter how much time has passed.

3. A faith moved and marked by actions
- This is the piece I have been missing in my faith. I may be praying but if my words and actions contradict the faith I proclaim in my prayers - then I am not fully living in faith.

Faith WITH actions is an unstoppable force. Maybe putting actions to your faith will make those around you question you and some people may not agree. Everyone will have their opinions, what is important is that we live out our faith how God intended us to. When we do this, no matter what we face, we can rest assured that we stand on a firm foundation of faith, and that God is for us and He is going to pull us through. An example of action you can couple with your faith would be if you have an addiction, to pray, rely on God and then to also throw out the alcohol or drugs or food you may be using as an act of you moving forward in faith. If you are dealing with a difficult relationship or maybe your marriage may be struggling, you pray for your marriage and believe that God is working on your behalf, and then you also act in faith by loving your spouse through it, and showing understanding, compassion, grace, forgiveness and love.

When you hope something to happen, you are declaring that their is a DESIRE for that to happen, when you have faith you are taking ACTION. Anything big that has happened in life has started with just one small step or change; one small adjustment in your thinking, in your perspective. Do not give up! Never give up, you cannot do everything, but you can do something and allow God to do the rest. With God all things are possible.