THE FORCE OF FAITH One of the biggest misconceptions about faith is that it is blind. We often hear the expression ‘blind faith’. The truth however is that in reality, faith is not blind. In fact without sight, faith is nonexistent. If you do not see your future, you will be trapped in your present. If you cannot describe where you are going then you will be defined by where you are. I was with a group of people recently and they were talking about moving to the next level. I then asked them to define their next level and there were as many descriptions as there were people. In fact most of them had difficulty explaining the next level to me. If you cannot accurately describe your ‘next level’ your present level will be your only reality. Why is the ability to see so important? If I came to talk to you about a red BMW what happens in your mind? You will not see the letters R-E-D-B-M-W. You will actually see a picture of a red BMW. The words we hear turn to pictures in our mind. If you cannot see it, you cannot execute it. If someone were to give you an instruction in a language that you do not understand, you will not be able to execute it. Your problem is not that you were not listening. Neither was it that you did not hear. The problem was that you did not see. The words could not be translated into pictures. The human mind processes pictures and not letters and as such any letters or words that cannot be translated into pictures by the mind cannot be executed. Faith needs an accurate picture of the destination in order to proceed with the journey. If you are not able to describe where you are going – if you cannot see it in your mind (as a picture) you will never get there. Faith is not hope. You cannot hope yourself into success. Hope is not a strategy. Hope carries with it a suggestion of uncertainty. Faith on the other hand is certain. So many people die hoping. So many people fail hoping that they will succeed. The difference between hope and faith is knowledge. Just imagine you are a kite. Hope is a kite with no rope and no one controlling it. It is at the mercy of the wind that is beyond anyone’s control. Faith on the other hand is being a kite and knowing that there is a rope that connects you to a strong person who can control you and keep you in order. It becomes very foolish for the person without the rope to try to do what the person with the rope is doing. However, this is what a lot of people do. They have based their lives on hope. When hopes are dashed, it makes the heart sick. Faith is not going for an exam without reading. It is going for the exam fully prepared and then expecting the questions to be in your favour. Faith is not going for an interview without researching and preparing. In fact it is the very opposite. It is going fully prepared and expecting that all the people on the interview panel will just prefer you to everyone else. Faith is not the replacement for preparation. It is the expectation that circumstances will favour preparation. Faith is not silent. The spirit of faith speaks what it believes. What you say you believe that you cannot say, you have not yet believed. Every level has its language. You cannot enter into the next level of your life speaking the language of the last level. To become president, you must speak like a president. To become CEO, you must begin to think and speak like a CEO. You must speak solutions. A lot of people speak alright but they are always speaking what is not working. They are always complaining. Your life will progressively move in the direction of your words. If you cannot speak something that builds, then keep quiet. Even the fool is considered wise until he opens his mouth. Many people are condemned to mediocrity, poverty and stagnation because they cannot speak the language of where they are going. They are trapped in the language of where they are and where they are coming from. Language is a barrier. If you are in a place where they are speaking a language that you do not understand, even if they are calling people to come and get free money you cannot benefit from it. You will never get out of lack by always complaining about lack. The key out of lack is to begin to talk abundance. As you talk remember that there is a preparation that matches the talking. You don’t just sit down and talk. You invest in yourself. You ensure that you are circumstance ready. This means that when the opportunity shows up, you are ready to grab it. Faith is not emotional. Faith is not something you feel. It is something you know. Faith does not respect how faithful you are. It respects how much you know. A lot of people are very faithful and have served faithfully in their workplace or in their church or wherever it is they are serving and yet nothing changes in their lives. Someone new shows up and applies the principles of faith and dramatic changes happen. This is when the old faithful now begin to complain. Remember that last week we established that if the rate of external change is greater than the rate of internal growth, victims are born. It is possible to have been very faithful but without internal growth, there will be no faith and conditions will not change. Life does not reward you by how faithful you have been. Heaven rewards faithfulness but Earth rewards faith. The goal is to be rewarded on both levels. Faith is the victory to overcome. There is nothing to overcome in Heaven so faith is for the earth. Faith is not passive. Faith does not sit down and wait for conditions to get better. Faith creates the right conditions with its decisions. For instance, you may be out of a job at the moment. Faith will cause you to develop yourself further and get up in the morning like you already have the job. Faith actively presses towards the mark. I remember the story of David and Goliath. Everyone saw Goliath and got scared and said, he’s too big to kill. David saw the same thing and got excited and ran towards the giant saying, he’s too big, I can’t miss him. What are you seeing today? A giant or an opportunity? The bigger the obstacle in front of you, the greater the glory ahead of you. Faith is what separates those with manifestations from those with explanations for mediocrity. Faith is a universal currency that is available for all. By faith the sons of nobodies have become somebodies. By faith cripples have won Olympic medals. By faith sons of paupers have become billionaires. By faith descendants of herdsmen have become presidents. By faith people have overcome the greatest obstacles imaginable and have gone on to achieve great feats. Do not feed your doubts at the expense of your faith by always talking about your fears and doubts. Feed your faith by surrounding yourself with things that remind you of where you are going. Someone reading this piece is going to be the next big thing in Africa. Someone reading will be the next great inventor, the next great entrepreneur, the next great statesman or woman, the next great CEO, the next great author, the next great actor or actress, the next great singer. If you can see it, if you can say it, if you can get up and run towards it, then you are it. Notice I did not say that you will be it. I said you already are. Faith says ‘I am therefore I do’. Tradition says I do that I may become. Inside every fool is a genius waiting to come out. Inside every peasant is a king waiting to be crowned. Speak the language of your destination, see yourself there and very soon the whole world will be forced to see about you what you already saw concerning yourself. I am a living witness to this fact and I will talk more about this next week as I share on the force of vision.No matter how bad yesterday was, every morning when you wake up, you have an opportunity to speak the language of a new day. When you say, good morning, you are declaring the day good even before you experience it. On that note, have a great day!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:13:15 +0000
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