We all love to hear stories about the power of God. They are compelling and exciting: they make having faith seem worthwhile rather than burdensome. The trouble with faith is that much of the time it can feel like a burden. You have to psyche yourself up to believe. It all seems a little otherworldly and you question, “Why do I have to stretch myself so far? Isn’t that proof enough that it’s not real?” These are the voices that we have all heard at some time or other!
Have you ever worked so hard to believe, that you decided that you just can’t ‘try harder’ anymore? Faith isn’t something that is built by trying hard. You may have heard the phrase ‘work smarter, not harder.’ I wondered how this might apply to a life of faith, and what faith hacks would look like.
Faith hack #1 – What are you doing that you couldn’t do without the power of God?
You can only discover God and faith when you get out of the boat (as in last week’s message) so to speak. We often wish for God to reveal himself in our lives but do little to set up the opportunity for this to happen. Here is a vital question: is there anything you are challenging in your life right now that is beyond your own talent and capabilities?
For example, I don’t necessarily need God’s help to write an email; it doesn’t take a miracle to send an email. It’s a routine thing. I write tons of emails in a single day. But what if I yearn to communicate just the right thing to someone, in order to help them? Then, I may need something beyond my intellect or my own wisdom. In searching for that message I may encounter the Divine. Some may doubt that is Divine intervention but I say, you know it when you meet it!
For faith hack #1 the question is “What are you doing that you couldn’t do without the power of God?” If the answer is “nothing really”, then you know you need to take yourself on an adventure. What could you challenge that is beyond just you?
Don’t allow yourself to live a life where you are seriously under challenged – that would be boring! You are capable of more. I saw faith hack #1 in action this week. I met with Hamasi and Chris, two refugees who came to the US from Africa and have started a non-profit: Safari Youth Club. The mission of the club is to provide refugee youth with activities, mentoring and peer support that will encourage the development of skills and talents, while helping them to avoid negative peer pressure and unhealthy behaviors and activities.
They had a vision and goal based on their passion to help refugee youth. They are incredibly intelligent, talented people but they had no knowledge of how to solicit funds for their project or write grants. They have the know-how to make the program happen, they have a gym and sports equipment, but no transportation to get the kids to YWCA. It’s a problem.
Being men of faith they prayed for this dream they wanted to accomplish that they couldn’t achieve without the intervention of a power greater than themselves. We met; I had the pieces of the puzzle they were missing. Our worlds collided and over coffee last week Hamasi told me, “You are an answer to my prayer.” It’s not that I am God’s gift to anything or anyone; it was that God was connecting the dots to make something great happen. It’s the kind of equation where the sum is greater than the parts.
What are you afraid to challenge because you don’t have all the parts? In forging forward with faith, could you encounter God and experience that He is working in your life? Faith hack #1 can transform your relationship with the living God.
Faith Hack #2 – It starts with you, not God
This faith hack is an uncomfortable realization! If God is the creator of the Universe why can’t he just appear in front of me to solve the problem of faith? If we consider God as all-powerful and all-knowing then surely this isn’t too much to ask. Strangely, it doesn’t work this way.
God gets people to develop their faith by having them take the first step. It wouldn’t be faith; it wouldn’t be personal and valuable if God did all the work. This has been a question or a point of tension between people and God for thousands of years. It’s enshrined in the question: “Why do I have to take the first step?” The reason we have to make the first move is unpacked in the Divine Principle.
The Introduction to the Principle of Restoration (Divine Principle pp. 175-187) goes into detail about why it has to start with human effort.
“Suppose two people who once loved each other came to be on bad terms; they must make a condition of reconciliation before the love they previously enjoyed can be revived. In like manner, it is necessary for humanity who has fallen from God’s grace into corruption to fulfill some condition before they can be restored to their true standing.” (p.177)
The reality is we caused tremendous grief to God by violating His love. We have to make reparation by regaining our pure, original nature. One way to do this is to reach out to God, from the position of an innocent child and ask for His love with a pure heart.
This ‘first step’ principle is essential to building a life of faith. You have to go beyond what you know and put your heart in God’s hands. That act alone builds your faith. You will never find a deep faith if you remain inside your head! Faith hack #2 step out – don’t wait for God to make the first move.
Faith hack #3 – Move forward even when you don’t know what will happen next
When it comes to faith we become extremely conservative. People think “I don’t know all the answers yet. How can I be expected to have a relationship with God?”
That’s an interesting question. Yet, we enter into all kinds of relationships without knowing everything. For example, take marriage. Would anyone walk down the aisle if they understood all the things they would encounter in that relationship? Probably not! And yet we do and it’s a good thing we do. That first step down the aisle is one of many. What if we hadn’t had the faith to make the journey?
I think about what I knew on the day I was Blessed in marriage and realize my understanding of my husband and my love for him was shallow compared with today. Yet, my commitment on that day opened up a unique and incredible love story. It all started with a single step.
We want a relationship with God but are often unwilling to take the first step because we don’t have everything about God figured out. Thinking from God’s point of view, that’s a little unfair!
So it is with children. I love to see new parents. They are so in love with their little bundle of joy. I sometimes think – do they know what they will encounter in raising their child? No, they don’t and that is a good thing! If we knew all the challenges we would face in loving a son or daughter we might choose never to have a child. However, it is that journey that creates true love and ultimately brings us our greatest joy.
Don’t be afraid to commit yourself to a relationship with God, even if you don’t have all the answers. You will find them along the way but it will take time. You have to have skin in the game for anyone, including God, to take you seriously.
John Ortberg said, “Never try to have more faith, just get to know God better.” Find ways to learn about God. You would never advance any of your relationships if you were not willing to learn more about that person.
Faith hack # 4 – Get out of your spiritual comfort zone
Everyone likes to feel competent. For this reason, we stay in our comfort zone. So it is with our life of faith, which is why our faith doesn’t grow. We are so busy being safe that God does not have a chance to say anything or do anything unusual in our lives.
Who do you speak with about your faith, or about God? Is it just other people in your faith community or is this something you would bring up with people outside of that circle? This is a really good question to ask yourself from time to time.
It’s easy to speak with others who share your beliefs and scary to discuss something close to your heart beyond your group of friends of faith. Over time, our world tends to get smaller instead of larger. This is the real reason why we don’t witness to our faith. By definition, we must value our faith and therefore, presumably think it would be helpful to others, but we don’t share it because to do so means stepping out of our spiritual comfort zone. If you don’t believe me try sharing your faith this week. A river of molasses will drag you back and inertia might set in!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Instead of just attending church, try reaching out and inviting someone in. If you want to push the walls back further, create an interfaith dialogue. See if you find God speaking to you in that exchange.
The importance of getting out of your comfort zone was brought home to me this week through a conversation with life coach, David Young. He asked me for feedback on his new website. (www.jsycoaching.com) I met David a few years ago, before he was a life coach.
At that time he was pursuing a career with the defense department. He had studied and worked for several years in China, can speak multiple languages and has all kinds of talents. He had passed all the security clearances, a feat in itself. He was at a cross roads. He asked me what he should do; pursue this high paying, prestigious career or develop a life coaching business. He wasn’t really asking me; he was asking himself.
I was in awe of that question because on the outside it seems simple – high paying, interesting career with incredible benefits versus uncertain future. No brainer, right? David instead, asked himself a very important question: who was I created to be; what was I created to do? David didn’t ask, “What does God want?” because God, like any parent, could be satisfied with numerous career choices. Fundamentally, God just wants us to be happy.
David’s question was deeper. He wanted to figure out where he could give the most through aligning his activity with who he was created to be. In the end, David turned down a lucrative offer with a government agency to open a life coaching business with zero clients. His first client enabled him to have 100% growth rate!
Now he has many clients and has given motivational seminars internationally. By stepping outside of his comfort zone he created the opportunity for God to work in his life and open doors. Now he is a little closer to God in a real way, beyond the boundary of theology or doctrine but in the realm of real life. What boundary could you push back to find greater faith?
Faith hack # 5 – Faith isn’t necessarily supernatural; God loves us through the people in our lives
Most of the time when it comes to faith, we expect to meet God in a supernatural way. This is frustrating for God, as He is trying to touch us through the people in our lives and we are busy ignoring them, asking where God is!
The Divine Principle and many other sacred texts illuminate that we live in two, interconnected worlds. The trouble is we miss the main point, meaning the two worlds do actually connect. We tend to relegate most of life to the physical world: family, job, entertainment etc., and occasionally think of the spiritual; usually when someone close to us dies or we want to improve our lives.
God and faith are very much connected to our physical lives, in ways we often miss or are not sensitive to. We want to feel God’s love but insist on shaking off a hug from a parent or friend. God created the family as a vehicle for his love, not something that was intended to be separate from Him.
Rev. Moon observed that our faith naturally deepens through the experience of love in the family:
“Human beings are born in love, raised in parental love, and grow up as they extend their love horizontally to relatives and friends. A stage in the development of horizontal love is completed when they meet a partner of the opposite sex and grow together as a couple. In their conjugal union, the couple represents the union of heaven and earth. The fruit of that love is the children they bear. Children are a result of that love, born from the core of the heart.”
“Those children, born from a man and a woman who share love based on a deep heart, create a path for the parents that will take them to the central point of love. When they follow this path to the center, they will meet God. By having children as fruits of love, human beings come to deeply experience the love by which God created human beings and all things. By loving their children with the same love that they received as they grew up, they can have a deep experience of the parental love of God.”
Faith is not some vague and unattainable thing we have to pursue through a monastic lifestyle; it’s close by, in our family. This may sound unreal in view of the tragic fact that nearly 50% of all marriages end in divorce, negatively impacting family relationships and producing both mental and physical suffering.
Nevertheless, it is not the basic principle of the family that is the problem but the sad reality that humanity separated from God’s love. Despite this, the family still remains a sacred place to receive God’s love in tangible ways. If you are looking for faith, consider your family.
Start fresh each day
Try beginning each day with a simple prayer. Ask God to show you something today. Don’t wait for when you get out of bed to pray because you will become distracted by making coffee, getting the kids off to school, making sure you don’t miss the train or a myriad of other diversions.
Before you lift your head from the pillow, greet your Heavenly Parent and let Him know you are listening and looking to grow in faith and relationship with Him today. Discover the power of a little prayer.
