Let's be real, how many times have we heard the scripture "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things yet seen"? or "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" or my favorite the simple and elegant "Proverbs 31 woman" in oh so many Instagram bios. Now there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with quoting scripture in your bio. I'm just saying:

What's .. the point .. if you don't actually believe it or live it?

I have known those scriptures (maybe not word for word and I honestly couldn't even tell you off the top of my head where they are located in the bible) for quite some time. But until about mid last year I didn't really understand what those scriptures meant for myself. Or wait .. maybe I understood them because I'd seen God do some miraculous things in my family and in other people's lives that I knew, but I didn't take the time to really comprehend that what I'd seen was truly a move of God caused by faith.

It really wasn't until I became pregnant and was told that my pregnancy was high risk that I really started to actively trust God and exercise my faith. I mean, of course I'd had faith prior to that experience .. you know, the kind of faith that when I pass a police officer going fifteen over the speed limit that he won't turn around and give me the ticket I deserve, or the kind of faith that when I pull into a packed parking lot there will be a parking space waiting for me. But I never took the time to really walk by faith in every aspect of my life.

Faith is trusting God.

I read somewhere (I can't tell you exactly where, maybe it was on Facebook or Instagram or Twitter lol) that entrepreneurship is like jumping off of a cliff and building the plane on your way down. I feel like faith is kind of similar to that. Faith is like jumping off of that same cliff and trusting God that the plane you're building on the way down will actually work because the bible does teach us that "faith without work is dead". So you can have all the faith in the world, but if you aren't actively exercising your faith it's all for nothing. It's taken me well over a year to really understand and grasp that concept.

Now, that's not to say that faith makes the fear of the situation we are facing go away. Faith teaches us to fight fear and not let it overtake us.

Every now and then I catch myself, slipping. Meaning that I have faith that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or think, BUT, I sometimes am like "man, how am I going to get this done" or I find myself really stressing over situations I've already given to God. What I've learned on this journey of learning how to truly exercise my faith, is that while walking by faith may be challenging .. God will never leave me nor forsake me because he truly has a purpose and plan for my life. Therefore I can't let fear hinder me from living my purpose and doing the things he put me on this earth to do.

Through my journey of learning how to walk by faith, I've been listening to the "Gates of Change" series taught by Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in North Carolina. It's an awesome series on truly exercising our faith and not letting the enemy who is already defeated cloud our vision and stifle our faith. This series has given me a new outlook on my faith, on truly believing God, and really walking by faith. It's like every message was tailored just for me.

If you've read my first blog in my "Real Talk with Nikki" category then you know that I almost let fear and unbelief in myself block my blessings and hinder me from moving forward with my blog. It's so very important to feed your spirit things that will keep you uplifted and focused on your God given purpose. Walking by faith poses it's challenges when I let fear and unbelief creep in, but I am going to wake up each day, push aside the fear and doubt that tries to creep in and continue to walk by faith.