The 5 Phases of Faith

By: Lysa Terkeurst

I believe God gives every person a dream. Not the same dream, of course, but a dream that is especially tailored for their talents and His purposes. Each person receives a dream that only they are destined to fulfill.

But just as the Israelites were promised a land flowing with milk and honey only if they had the faith to move ahead and take the promised land, so too does every person with a dream face obstacles that would keep them from God’s best for them. The Israelites had to overcome giants in the land. Those giants struck fear in the heart of those to who the promise was given. Some drew back as a result. Discouragement set in. Fatigue, impatience, unbelief…all of these were common to those men and women who spent 40 years in the desert because they simply couldn’t walk in faith toward the destiny God had called them to.

I meet many people who know in their hearts that God has great things for them. But with every advancing step, they meet obstacles. Giants are in their promised land. And they experience those same feelings of discouragement, fatigue, and unbelief.
Let me ask you this: What is the dream God has given you? Maybe you can’t quite put it into words except to say that you know that God wants to use you. But how that’s to happen…you’re not quite sure.

There are five phases I’ve identified in the Bible common to people who have stepped out with God in pursuit of their dream. Different biblical characters weathered these same five phases and we would do well to recognize these phases in our own faith walk. As you learn about these phases of faith, you’ll avoid the discouragement and defeat so many of us have gotten bogged down in along the way. I pray that you will be able to press through, walk confidently, and avoid doubting God.

These are the five phases of faith you’ll pass through to achieve your dream:

1. Leaving: In order to go to a new level of faith with God, you’ve got to leave the old behind. God’s truth: He has a plan for me.
2. Famine: In this new place, you’ll realize your comfort zone is gone, and you’ll learn to depend on God like never before. God’s truth: He is with me.
3. Believing: You’ve always wanted to really believe God, but now your experience of Him becomes too real to deny. God’s truth: He will make a way.
4. Death: Coming to the end of your ability to make things happen seems like death to you. But to God, this is the only way to new life with Him. God’s truth: He isn’t surprised by death.
5. Resurrection: In a way only He could, God makes your dream come true. Only then do you understand that real joy isn’t in the dream itself but rather in the richer faith you acquired along the way. God’s truth: He brings dreams to life.
Keeping God’s truth’s in mind will sustain you as you pass through the five phases of faith. As you’ll soon discover, satan will oppose you as you begin to fulfill your dream. The more we focus on the truth, the freer we are to walk with God through the phases of faith and not get sidetracked

A Faithful God to the End

I've decided that one of the most tempting aspects of being the creature and not the Creator is that the fact that we are not omniscient. As in, we don't know what is in the hearts and thoughts of others. We don't know the end from the beginning. We don't know how the present trial will work together for the good of those who love God. We just ... don't know. All we can do is look back and, to paraphrase John Piper, contemplate the growing reservoir of past grace that has flowed through our lives, something we can clearly contemplate as we struggle with believing more grace will come in the future.
For those who are in that struggle with the unknown, here's an encouraging word from Charles Spurgeon's devotional, Morning and Evening:

"And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul."—1 Samuel 27:1.

The thought of David's heart at this time was a false thought, because he certainly had no ground for thinking that God's anointing him by Samuel was intended to be left as an empty unmeaning act. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted His servant; he had been placed in perilous positions very often, but not one instance had occurred in which divine interposition had not delivered him. The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied; they had not assumed one form only, but many—yet in every case He who sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his finger upon any entry in his diary, and say of it, "Here is evidence that the Lord will forsake me," for the entire tenor of his past life proved the very reverse. He should have argued from what God had done for him, that God would be his defender still. But is it not just in the same way that we doubt God's help? Is it not mistrust without a cause? Have we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's goodness? Have not His lovingkindnesses been marvelous? Has He once failed to justify our trust? Ah, no! our God has not left us at any time. We have had dark nights, but the star of love has shone forth amid the blackness; we have been in stern conflicts, but over our head He has held aloft the shield of our defense. We have gone through many trials, but never to our detriment, always to our advantage; and the conclusion from our past experience is, that He who has been with us in six troubles, will not forsake us in the seventh. What we have known of our faithful God, proves that He will keep us to the end. Let us not, then, reason contrary to evidence.

God's faithfulness is something singer/songwriter Heather Williams commented on regarding her song, "Hallelujah." I've been listening to this song a lot in recent days. The open dialogue that David kept with the Lord is what Heather wanted to emulate in her life, especially after the loss of her son. This is a song for those who want to praise God even as they stumble through life. Which is to say, a song for all of us. Because of the Cross, we do know one thing: we are not forsaken.

(taken from Radical Womanhood)