"For we walk by faith, not by sight..." is one of the MOST misunderstood scriptures in the Bible. If you get this wrong, you're signing up for a painful life of spiritual poverty and powerlessness. But if you comprehend this verse's depth, it will unlock a faith in you that can truly move mountains.
So if you feel like you lack faith in God, lost faith in God, or desire more faith in God, then I’ve got something for you.
But before we dive in, you can also listen to the Build Your Vision podcast episode on this blog post if it's easier.
Okay, let's get into it.
Pay attention to the rectangular graphic below. It completely changed my understanding of faith and how it truly works.
Each corner of the rectangle contains a key component of faith that I never focused on before. It unlocks a level of trust in God that will up your spiritual swagger.
The Faith Block: Understanding Biblical Faith
Have you ever seen a situation where someone displayed extremely high levels of faith and your first thought was, “I don’t think I could’ve done that”?
Or have you been in a situation that required faith but you found yourself anxious and worrying. You may even have felt kind of frustrated because you knew you shouldn’t be worrying but you were.
Or maybe you’ve had moments of complete doubt where you question whether God is truly real — or at least real in your life.
I’ve experienced all of these. And none of them feel good.
Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, it’s human nature to long for a secure and battle-tested belief system to inform our actions. We greatly desire a sense of security and power in the world.
These battle-tested belief systems are called paradigms, and they inform our actions. Each human is a walking, breathing paradigm. Because each human is acting out the things they deeply believe.
When our paradigms get shattered by new, unexpected life experiences, we find ourselves lost and wandering.
But through scripture and my own experiences, I came to realize why my faith was so fragile.
Here’s what I found: We often think of faith as a linear progression.
We think it looks like this:
Belief in the power of God --> Faith in his promises to humans --> Experience the power of God in your life.
But biblical faith actually looks more like this. I call this a Faith Block.
Point 1: Belief
The first point on The Faith Block is belief. Yes, to build faith, you need three more points BEYOND belief.
So what is a belief? A belief is the expectation of an outcome. For example:
- If I believe in God, I expect some outcome in my life because of that belief.
- If I believe in aliens, I expect some type of extraterrestrial interactions on earth.
- If I believe in Anthony Davis's unibrow, I fully expect it to grow back no matter how much money he makes.
No matter which expectation we have, positive or negative, that expectation will evoke a feeling.
Point 2: Feelings
Feelings are the second point on The Faith Block.
Trying to remove feelings from faith is like trying to remove emotions from humans or remove the cheese out of a cheesecake. You can't do it; it's built-in.
You might be thinking, "But Clee we should have faith in spite of our emotions." That's nonsense.
The only reason we do anything is because we feel like it. If you don't feel like it you won't do it. If you don't feel like having faith, you won't.
"But Clee, I do stuff I don't feel like doing all the time." False. You do stuff you don't WANT to do all the time, but you indeed do FEEL like doing it.
Wants vs. Feelings
A want is a desire to possess or do something. A feeling is an emotional state or reaction. We would like to believe that we pursue our desires and control our emotions.
In fact, that’s what we think we’re doing most of the time, but the opposite is actually true. We pursue our emotions and control our desires. Feelings are simply stronger than wants.
- Plenty of people want to be business owners, but few feel like doing the work.
- Plenty of people want to be out of debt, but few feel like altering their expenses.
- Plenty of people want to be in shape, but few feel like overhauling their diet.
You don’t act on what you want, you act on what you feel.
This can bend in the positive direction as well. You may not want to go the gym, but in that moment you feel like being healthy, impressing your friends, increasing your status, or winning a bet, more than you feel like staying in bed, so you go anyway.
You may not want to go to work, but you feel like going to work more than you feel like being homeless.
This sheds light on what Paul vulnerably explains in Romans 7:14-17:
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
Anticipation vs. Anxiety
We all do exactly what we feel like doing even during times that we don't want to do it.
The feeling of faith is anticipation while the feeling of doubt is anxiety. So when you believe in the character and faithfulness of God you expect an outcome from that belief. And when it's positive, you experience a feeling of anticipation for what God is going to do for you.
That feeling of anticipation drives certain behaviors or actions. The feeling of anxiety cripples you.
- Remember the night before a field trip or vacation? You anticipated that trip and you had your outfit(s) all planned out. Anticipation is an energy-giver that drives behavior and action.
- Remember when you procrastinated because you were anxious about what you needed to do? Your doubts about the success or outcome of the situation had you in fetal position. Anxiety is an energy-zapper that prevents behavior or action.
This leads to the third component of The Faith Block: Actions.
Point 3: Actions
You will never have a feeling that you will not act on eventually. You’ll either need to remove it or replace that feeling with another (more powerful one) or you WILL behave in alignment with your feelings.
That's why you don't have to try to expose fake people. Just let them live long enough and they will expose themselves. In time, everyone acts on the feelings they harbor most deeply — for better or for worse.
James 1:14 says,
"Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions…"
Your feelings and desires give birth to actions — point blank, period. The only way feelings can be overridden is by the strength of another, more powerful feeling or desire. In the case of James chapter one, that power is the Holy Spirit.
Feelings Always Lead To Actions
When you feel anticipation you go into proactive mode, when you feel anxiety you go into protective mode.
Let’s look at an example of your feelings turning into actions.
Think about your friends who are always on time and your friends who are always late.
When you anticipate your friend is going to be on time, you’re proactive in making sure you're on time so you’re not embarrassed by ruining the night and being late yourself.
But now, let's think about when you’re dealing with a friend that's always late. You're already anxious about telling them the time before you even send them the venue. You might even try to protect yourself by purposefully telling them a time that's 20 minutes early! You’re trying to ensure your night isn't ruined by them being late.
Feelings always lead to actions. So when you anticipate God's promise, you’ll begin to behave proactively.
Think about it:
- You buy the house with an extra room before you're even pregnant.
- You leave the job before you even have new prospects.
- You make the business account before you even have a customer.
We see this in the Bible, too:
- Abraham moved to a foreign land before he had any descendants.
- Joshua stepped into the Jordan River before it began to part.
- Peter stepped into the sea when he didn't even know how to swim. (Peter probably did know how to swim, but you get the point.)
So your beliefs lead to feelings; your feelings lead to actions, and your actions lead to...experiences.
Point 4: Experiences
The last point on The Faith Block are your experiences.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction — Newton's Third Law.
But this goes beyond the realm of physics. It's also a spiritual law. This is why the Law of Attraction has legs. It's really just the Law of At-Action.
When you believe something you feel a certain way, and when you feel a certain way you take certain actions, and when you take certain actions you yield certain results and experiences.
Faith Without Works is Dead
This is why James 2:17 says, “faith without works is dead.” Faith without action doesn't get results or experiences. Any result you have is evidence of an action, an action is evidence of a feeling, and a feeling is a result of a belief.
All of a sudden Hebrews 11:1 makes a lot more sense. It says:
“Now faith is the substance (the support under, assurance) of things hoped for (anticipated), the evidence (action, results) of things not seen.”
Faith is not just belief and faith is it not simply linear.
This is a huge mistake that is leaving God's people powerless. If you believe that faith is linear, you will confine an abundant outcome to a limited input.
The Waiting Room or Hormozi Zone
More belief does not equal more faith.
An abundant outcome has abundant inputs and they are all interdependent.
More faith doesn’t come by just more belief, trust, or knowledge. It comes by more experiential deposits.
You could be wondering, “Clee, what if I don’t see results or have an experience?”
Just because you don’t see the results yet doesn’t mean that your belief-based action isn’t working. It just means that it’s not working how you thought it would.
I generally refer to this space as the Waiting Room, but I also like to call it the Hormozi Zone.
Alex Hormozi, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and author, is known for the extended anticipation of his book releases. He teased his most recent book, $100M Leads, for an entire two years. His fans waited with bated breath, including me.
What’s interesting about the Hormozi Zone is that the longer Hormozi waited to release the book, the more anticipation he built for the release date. Expectations went from, “Hmm this book looks like it’s going to be good” to “Man this book must be STELLAR!”
The longer the wait = the better the blessing.
But why does this work for Alex Hormozi and not other authors?
Here are two reasons:
- Hormozi has a proven track record of constantly providing value to his audience.
- Hormozi constantly mentions the book.
This reinforced belief in those who are waiting for the book to be published. We know that Alex Hormozi won’t put out anything that isn’t highly valuable — he already does for free. And since it’s taking so long and he keeps mentioning it, that must mean it’s going to be stellar!
The scriptures show that God has a WAY better track record than Alex Hormozi. This is why reading and internalizing scripture is so important for our faith walk. Your past experiences in life show that God has not failed you. And if you feel like your idea or vision for your future keeps getting mentioned in your mind that is another great sign.
I always say: You won’t want to let go of a GOOD idea, but a GOD idea won’t let go of you.
If you feel stuck in the Hormozi Zone or feel like you’re in a Waiting Room season, get excited and increase your anticipation because that means God is doing something STELLAR in your life.
Alex Hormozi ended up doing a live event to celebrate the book launch and he completely exceeded the expectations of his audience. I feel bad for those who gave up belief or anticipation for the book. They probably weren’t even paying attention when it was time for its release and the moment they were once waiting for passed them by.
Don’t get discouraged by the Waiting Room.
Stop Idolizing Faith, Start Investing
If you want more faith, look to increase the sum of its components:
- Belief
- Feeling
- Action
- Experiences
So, how do you do that? Stop idolizing leaps of faith and start investing in steps of faith.
Three-Step Process for Investing in Faith
1. Read your Bible
Notice, I didn't say start a new devotional plan or begin a new sermon series, or pick up a commentary. Read your Bible. The more you become personally familiar with the character of God, the more you will believe Him. You won’t get there by believing what someone told you to think about Him. If you want me to do an episode on how to study the Bible, drop a comment.
2. Start investing in your faith
Start small. You don't have to throw your life savings in the market all at once.
- Make that phone call in faith
- Tithe in faith
- Apply for that position in faith
- Make that apology in faith
- Start that podcast in faith
- Text that friend in faith
- Start a conversation with that homeless person in faith
- Stop wearing that makeup or that outfit in faith
- Start attending a church in faith
- Stop going to that particular place in faith
These types of little investments accrue with compounding interest and give you the experiences that lead to bigger investments and faith-bank balances.
3. Write down your investments
We all suffer from short-term memory loss when it comes to God. I’m no exception. Keep a record of your faith investments so that you have receipts when you feel anxiety and doubt creeping in. I recommend getting a prayer journal and writing down your investments, prayers, and thoughts. Periodically reflect on your earlier entries to see what God has done for you.
Become a Rich Kingdom Citizen
This is practically how you become a rich Kingdom Citizen who doesn't just say they are Christian, but walks with true power because of their genuine trust in an all-powerful God.
Faith is not linear and autonomous, it’s cyclical and interdependent.
Each faith block builds on top of another. Keep building and building until you have a wall of faith so strong that not even Satan himself can knock it down.
Don't live in spiritual poverty anymore. The vision you desire to build for your life, the call that God has on your life can be one step of faith away.
Let's start investing, not just in belief, but in the entire faith block, and become truly powerful visionaries.
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