The Bible says, “we walk by faith” (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). I really like this wording because when we choose to follow God, it means we are trusting Him to lead us in the right direction. It means taking steps of faith, even when things don’t make sense...even when we don’t see “the bigger picture.”
Hebrews 11:1 (AMPC) gives a definition of faith. It says, ...faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality....
When we’re praying and asking God for something, we don’t see it yet. But seeing with “the eye of faith” allows us to believe it before we ever see it come to pass. Faith enables us to believe things that may not make any sense to our natural minds.
Walking in faith sometimes means doing things that don’t make sense...or doing things we don’t necessarily feel like doing. Faith looks at God’s Word and says, “If God says it, then I believe it! And I’m going to line up the words of my mouth with His Word, and I’m going to take steps of obedience to do what He says to do.”
Over 40 years ago, God first spoke to my heart about teaching His Word. At the time, I was simply a housewife from Fenton, Missouri who really didn’t have any qualifications to do something like that.
I’ll never forget that day. I was listening to an audio tape of a minister, marveling that he could teach on one subject for nearly an hour. I was making my bed at the time, and God so clearly spoke to my heart and said, “Joyce, you are going to go all around the world and preach the Gospel, and you’re going to have a large teaching tape ministry.”
This was more than my mind could handle—I wasn’t even sure what a “teaching tape ministry” was! Even though it seemed impossible, I chose to believe the vision God placed in my heart and I began to take steps of faith as He directed me.
In the very beginning, I believed God was asking me to start a Bible study. I didn’t even know where to start, so I got some good advice from my pastor, then began teaching my first Bible group. My husband, Dave, and I hosted this group in our home for five years.
At that point, I felt like God was directing me to conclude the Bible group and spend more time studying. So for an entire year I didn’t teach at all! Needless to say, it takes faith to keep going when it seems like nothing is happening.
Do What He Puts Before You
After that year, however, we began to attend a new church, and the pastor eventually asked me to teach a weekly women’s meeting. Now, I didn’t want to do this at all. I believed I was called to teach everyone—not just women. But I kept sensing in my heart that God wanted me to do what He had put before me.
So, this weekly women’s meeting grew larger and larger, and I was eventually asked to be an associate pastor. After about five years, The Lord instructed me to leave that church and go out on my own. He directed me to take my ministry “North, South, East and West.” This was an incredibly difficult for me because I liked the position I had at the church, and I was comfortable.
Not only that, but I thought, God, nobody knows me North, South, East, West...or anywhere! But Dave and I stepped out in faith and began holding meetings in North St. Louis, South St. Louis, East St. Louis and West St. Louis, sometimes only ministering to 15 people at a time.
I’m sharing this with you because it’s important to know that faith is a process. When God speaks something to your heart, you take a step and see what happens. Then you take another step and see what happens, allowing God to direct your steps all along the way.
It’s easy to look at other people’s lives and think everything happened overnight. But we don’t see what happens behind the scenes. We don’t see all of the hours of prayer and the individual steps of obedience.
Well, little by little, Joyce Meyer Ministries began to grow, and the Lord eventually directed us to put our program on radio and television. Today, our Enjoying Everyday Life program airs on more than 100 TV stations in over two-thirds of the world.
But it required step after step of obedience. It required walking in faith and choosing to believe what God spoke to me when it looked like it would never happen.
Maybe you’re believing God for something in your life and you’re in those early stages. Or maybe nothing’s happening at all, and you wonder if you ever heard from God in the first place. The greatest advice I can give you is to keep going—keep releasing your faith and doing whatever God shows you to do.
Hebrews 6:12 tells us we inherit God’s promises “through faith and patience” (NIV). Hebrews 12:1 goes on to say, ...let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.
Patience is a big part of faith. Most things won’t happen overnight, and faith requires us to wait for God’s appointed time without giving up or wavering. Patience is an attitude that says, “I’m going to stay calm and believe God is going to do exactly what He said He’s going to do.”
Never Give Up
When we see God’s promises in His Word or He speaks something specific to our hearts, our part is to believe, then do every little thing God shows us.
Never give up on seeing God’s Word come to pass in your life. If the Lord has spoken something to your heart or given you a vision for the future, hang on to it and refuse to quit, regardless of how long it takes.
Luke 5:1-7 (AMPC) is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, and it contains such a great lesson about faith. In verse 4, Jesus tells Peter, Put out into the deep [water], and lower your nets for a haul.
Peter responds: “Master, we toiled all night [exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our nets] (v. 5).
I can relate with Peter! He’s basically saying, “Jesus, we’ve been doing this a really long time without any results. We’re completely exhausted and don’t feel like doing it one more time.”
But I love what comes next. Peter, already exhausted from being up all night, says to Jesus, But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [again] (v. 5). Then look what happens: And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were [at the point of] breaking, they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and take hold with them... (v. 6-7).
Have you ever felt this way? Maybe you’ve been believing God for your health, a better job, or for a turnaround in a relationship. Maybe the Lord has given you a big vision for your life but it seems like nothing has happened after so much time has already passed. You might feel like giving up...you may even feel like you’ve missed your chance.
Like He spoke to Peter, the Lord is asking you to keep going, keep believing, keep trusting, and keep taking steps of faith.
There were many times during my own journey when I felt like giving up. There were times when I worked so hard—times when I was teaching just 15 or 20 people in my living room—and I wondered if I would ever see my vision come to pass.
During those times when I grew impatient, the Lord often encouraged me with Galatians 6:9: And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint (AMPC).
This is a promise from God that I held onto for years. He promises us that if we don’t quit—if we refuse to give up on the hopes and dreams He has placed in our hearts—we will see our reward in the end.
Remember, 2 Corinthians 5:7 says that “we walk by faith.” It’s a walk that we take—step by step—always believing and always holding on to hope that God will do what He said He’ll do.
Joyce Meyer
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