By Oshetha Shakoor
What is Faith?
Faith is not action nor is it inaction. It is something much more elusive. It is as invisible as the wind, yet just as powerful. We look at faith as something we can capture, yet we cannot. We can only command it to work for us, to render obstacles, doubts, and fears powerless in our midst. When I speak of faith, I know nothing of your religious preference, background, or supreme creator. Nor does faith. Faith is but a denomination-less tool fueled by your belief.
Yet, I must suggest a powerful truth to you.
Faith is the difference between life and death.
Let me be clear, the expiration of the physical body is not what I am speaking of. I am speaking of spiritual life and spiritual death; for these are the deaths that precede anything physical.
Faith in the Unseen
As human beings we have been conditioned to believe, yet we have little faith. Our lessons in life have taught us that it is the seen we should have faith in. Our faith usually is in anything that we can see and touch, or have experienced. Yet, there was a time when all we now see, touch, and experience did not exist, and prior to its existence was faith that one day would it would exist. This way of thinking is a result what many call the human condition. Our attachment to our physical presence and our dismissal of our spiritual nature is what accounts for our unavailability for faith. But I implore us to consider it a possibility, to shift into encompassing our spiritual world with our physical experience.
Let me provide you with an example if I may. We use objects such as televisions, faucets, cell phones, remote controls, and wireless networks and never see their inner workings, yet we have faith that they will work. When but one of us tries our remote by pressing the power button and receives no response, it is our immediate reaction that we try again and again and yet again. Not there do we stop, but we continue further. We advocate another individual to examine the remote and inspect and evaluate the lack of function because we have so much faith in its working that it is a near impossibility that it should not function for us.
Yet, I ask, where have we practiced this in our spiritual lives?
Where have we commenced into a mode of intense blind faith and repeated our faith incessantly because the notion of faith not functioning was an impossibility in our minds?
I am here to tell you that practicing this type of faith changes lives, changes minds, and changes worlds.
In weakness you find faith, and in faith you find strength.
To move in faith is an art; it is a practice. Why? The practice of faith requires from us discipline, stillness, and obedience. It is our discipline that stills us into both inaction and rightful movement. This stillness quiets our egos and alerts us to acknowledge that we as co-creators have reached Spirit’s creative juncture, where we may pause and admire universal intelligence at work. It is our stillness that adheres us to the moment, neither looking forward toward the future, nor backward toward the past. To truly experience faith, we must assume to know only the existence of that which we desire. We must not mar this vision with our past nor surround it with our future expectations. It simply must exist in our minds as timeless. This is the stillness that faith asks of us. Can you give it?
Assuming the Position of Faith
Many of us fail to exercise faith, especially at the most anxious of times. I have been guilty of such a thing myself. However, it is possible to become more consistent than you can imagine at utilizing the power of faith. You see, we make many mistakes when it comes to using the tool of faith. One such mistake repeatedly made is attempting to use faith in conjunction with man’s laws. Faith is of supernatural essence; thus, it works within supernatural laws.
Let me provide a short story for you so that you may begin to see my point.
A woman and her husband desired a child. However, each doctor they went to told the couple they would never conceive. All of the tests ran showed the wife as infertile so doctors suggested they give up. Yet the couple affirmed that as long as they desired they would continue to work at having a child. They prepared a baby room, bought baby clothes, and selected baby names. Many thought them insane, yet they continued on year after year. They selected a daycare, found a preschool, elementary school, and high school for their child. They never wavered. Even in the moments when they tired, they never quit. They refused to believe in or give power to man’s laws; they only operated from spiritual law. As it would happen the couple became pregnant. The doctors called it a miracle.
Was it a miracle? What we see or claim as miracles are merely the allowance of unadulterated faith; faith that flows freely, that utilizes spiritual laws, ignores the laws of mankind, and blossoms in a doubtless environment. Yes. Faith asks of us those things that are difficult and hard, yet certainly not impossible; for it yields for us those things that are difficult and hard, yet certainly not impossible.
So I will leave you with but a few words.
Miracles are only miracles according to our assumptions and expectations. Assume the position that miracles happen often and expect them all the time. It is by this method that our faith shall be ignited.
“There is no reward or penalty for not having faith or having faith. The consequences of both are influenced by our perceptions of both.”
—Oshetha Shakoor
Oshetha Shakoor, M.A., is an indigo empath and and advocate of individual and collective evolution. One of four children of a single parent home, she faced many challenges including dysfunction, abandonment, addiction, and violence. After years of repeating the patterns of her childhood, she experienced an epiphany and awakened to the power of self-awareness, self-love, and her truest gift; the ability to help others transform. Currently she lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her family and children, working as a spiritual and wellness life coach using her education in new thought, psychology, management, and family systems to help individuals and organizations transform. Visit www.highertree.com.
This article is a chapter from the book Transform Your Life! written by 60 real-life heroes and experts and available at Amazon.com, BN.com, www.Transformation-Publishing.com and all ebook formats.