This month our empowering word is, Faith.  Faith is defined as having complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  In biblical terms, Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.  Faith is believing that something is possible, even in impossible circumstances.  Faith is a powerful word that takes courage and belief in the ability to do something and remain unwavering in that faith.   Faith helps to remove doubt, fear and worry.  Faith is believing that a thing is so, even if it is not so, so that it might be so.  Faith is trusting that everything is going to be alright no matter what.  Faith is about taking a chance on love, life, and your goals and dreams.  Faith takes the negativity out of a positive situation and adds positivity to a negative mindset.   Faith begins in the heart and travels to the mind.  If you can think it, you can do it, if you can believe it, you can achieve it.  It benefits you to have faith and to be faithful in well doing.  Doubting and worrying causes stress and health problems and benefits no one.  Faith is not always an easy state of mind to remain in, especially when so much negativity goes on in the world around us.  But, when we truly have faith, nothing can move us to the point of doubt.  If you have wavering faith, it is not faith at all.  Just like real love is without terms and conditions (unconditional), faith is unwavering. If you do not have faith, don’t fret, because faith can be developed over time.  Just think back over your life and all that you have been through to get to where you are today.  If you don’t have faith by now, keep living, you’ll develop faith.  Faith is understanding that you might not be where you want to be today, but you realize now that you are far from where you used to be and closer to where you want to go.  If you are not closer to getting where you want to be, it is because you are doing absolutely nothing to work towards where you want to go.  Faith is believing beyond your own strength, resources, and mental capacity.  Faith to some non-believers can seem somewhat supernatural.  Faith is for believers, but even non-believers can be transformed to having faith. 

As I look back over my life and think about all the days I stressed about a time when I either was laid off from a job, transitioning from one living arrangement to another, worrying about how I was going to pay the bills and/or buy food to eat, I didn’t have faith.  I realize now that it was all a divine plan to get me to appreciate where I am today and to have faith that no matter what, everything will be just fine.  Even when I thought God was letting me down, it was a set-up to prepare me to go to a higher level.  There is no reason to worry about things that you cannot control; I learned that later in life.  If you would have told me years ago that I would own my own business, be an award winning actress, co-host a radio show, direct programs, write a book, write articles for journals and magazines, go to college and even graduate, and teach college courses at a University, I would have called you a liar.  The more I lived, the more I started believing not only in my own abilities, but that God was with me every step of the way using my experiences to develop my faith and to show me how capable I was of achieving great things, as well as developing my faith in Him.  I have faith in knowing that everything that happened to me was all for my good.  I trust Him.  I trust that He knows what He’s doing and because I don’t always know what I’m doing, I let Him lead me.  I trust that He already knows my ending and I do not. I trust Him.  I have faith in Him and I have faith in myself, as long as the two of us work together, there is nothing that we cannot do.  I honestly believe that with my whole heart. 

Exercise your faith muscle.  It is a good thing to do, because it helps you turn negative energy into positive energy.  It helps you shift mentally from victim to victor.  If you don’t believe in anything, you should at least believe in yourself, even if no one else believes in you.   Have faith….I can hear someone reading this right now, saying, “That’s easy for you to say, your life got better, but my life is still a mess.”  None of us want to stay in a mess.  So, I still say to you have Faith in yourself and in your ability to be and do more.  What propelled me beyond my previous circumstances was that I knew I didn’t want to stay there mentally, emotionally or physically and that I had to work towards changing my situation for the better.  I couldn’t just keep complaining about my circumstances, but do nothing to try to change my circumstances; that concept to me was dumb.  As I began to do the work, God met me the rest of the way, helping to grow my faith and reassuring me of the fact that even if I fall, I can still get back up, try again and keep going.  I did just that despite many obstacles and setbacks.  I didn’t wallow in self-pity when my life wasn’t what I had planned nor wanted.  I didn’t get frustrated and give up on myself or give up on God and become defeated.  The fighter in me and the faith in me, wouldn’t allow me to.  I knew I had to do something to change my situation.  It does help that I don’t like lacking in any area of my life, I don’t like being sad, I don’t like being depressed, I don’t like being upset, I don’t like feeling less than, and I don’t like not believing.  So, I asked myself what advice would I give to a friend in my circumstances and I took my own advice. 

We are usually better at giving advice to our friends and family, but not too good at doing what we would tell someone else to do.  However, I believe that we shouldn’t give advice that we would not take for ourselves, if we were in the same or similar situation.  Have faith that you can change your circumstances. We can change our circumstances, we just have to have faith in knowing that we can.  Ask yourself what do I have to do to change my situation and the way that I am feeling about my situation right now? There are somethings that you just can’t pray away.  The key to the shift for me was that I had to work harder, pray harder, and focus harder on changing my circumstances. I had to have faith that everything is going to be okay.  The key to the shift for you are those same things; work harder, pray harder and focus harder, because when you do you will succeed and you will then realize that it was your Faith motivating you to keep going the entire time.

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By Lynnette Clement