Entering the Faith Zone

Being a believer in Jesus does not mean that faith comes automatically or easily.  The definition of faith is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”  In every situation we encounter in life – every struggle, every challenge, every crisis, every important decision we are faced with – complete trust in the Lord is a perpetual process of entering and re-entering “the faith zone.”

I’ve had times when my confidence was not at a level of completely trusting God, especially in times of difficulty.  I may have been praying His will and saying to others, “God’s got this…”  but my actions were showing something different.  Striving to the fix the problem, losing sleep with worry, and not feeling His peace that surpasses all circumstances (Phil 4:7) were all indicators that my actions were not operating in the faith zone.

Thankfully, as a Christ follower I serve a loving and gracious God who knows my every weakness, my every habit, and my every coping mechanism.  He waits patiently until I finally surrender with my hands up saying, “I’ve tried all that I know to do!  I’m giving this to You, God.”  When I have truly surrendered it to Him, the answers are suddenly there.  The problem is perfectly solved, and I wonder why I waited so long to give it to Him.

I’ve learned in my faith-forward journey that there is a certain level of comfort in my own logic and problem solving efforts, but it only goes so far.  Where logic ends, faith begins.  To enter the faith zone, I have to step out of my comfort zone.

Recently, I was in a faith zone situation with my husband, Craig.  It wasn’t a crisis or struggle; it was something that could bring us blessing but also brought fear.  We had an important decision to make about an investment -- a kind of investment we’ve never made before.  We examined every angle and talked about every “what if” we could think of.  We did our due diligence and then some.  It was a short window of opportunity situation, meaning, if we didn’t move on it someone else would.  But doing so would be at a premium cost that was out of our comfort zone.  We’re both careful stewards of our finances, and this was a situation where all of the “what if’s” could turn this into being a bad financial choice.

As we have learned to do whenever we have an important decision to make, we prayed through every step as we did our due diligence.  We could see all of the benefits and blessings that would come from this investment, but we also could see potential disasters that could happen in going so far out of our comfort zone.  This is not the norm for us when it comes to finances, and it became clear that this was an “all or nothing” decision.  Do we go for it at a premium cost and take the “what if’s” risk?  Or do we let the “what if’s” outweigh the benefits and blessings we know this investment will bring and say no to the opportunity?

The voice of logic will always stay in the safe zone.  Just wait for another opportunity to come along.  There are more out there at a price that is not so risky with the ‘what if’s…  

I had a conversation with God about it, walking bare-footed in the grass of our front yard, while Craig did his own wrestling with questions inside of our home. I wanted to be sure that if we decided to take this risk, it would prove to be worth it.  I waited for His response, and there was no booming “DO IT!” from heaven.  Instead, I heard in my spirit a question:

How much do you trust Me?

We could say no and stay in our comfort zone.  There’s no shame in that, because we’re being careful stewards of our money.  But we would also be missing out on an opportunity of great blessing.

As I pondered His question, I felt another more message impressed in my spirit:

Less trust in Me results in less blessing. Do You want to receive a good blessing, or do you want to receive MY BEST BLESSING? You can say no to this opportunity. You can look for a lesser investment with less risk…but you will have a lesser blessing.   I want to give you My BEST BLESSING!  It will require that you trust Me completely with this transaction: with the risk, with your finances, with all of the ‘What if’s.”  Saying yes to this opportunity means stepping out of your comfort zone and fully into the faith zone.

Wow, what a message! As I pondered all that I’d heard in my spirit, a parallel between the faith zone and the game of football began to form in my thoughts.  Maybe it’s because Craig had a football career…or maybe it’s because we are now raising boys who are into football and it will be a good teaching tool for them.  Either way, it’s a tool I will always remember to help me recognize whether or not I’m operating in the faith zone when making an important decision.

In the game of football, the end zone is part of the field where scoring happens. It is the area between the end line and the goal line made up of 10 yards.  When a team gets the ball into the end zone of their opponent, this is the time (and place) where the heat gets turned up the highest.  If it is 4th down, there is choice to be made between high risk and low risk.  The low risk choice is to bring in the field goal kicker, who (at this close proximity to the goal line) is likely to kick it through the goal posts and score 3 points for the team. It doesn’t always happen that way and it’s not a sure thing, but in general the odds are really good the team is going to get some points on the board before the ball is turned over to the other team.

The high risk choice, on the other hand, is to go for the touchdown:  try to push the ball across the goal line by either running it or throwing it to a receiver who will attempt to catch it past the goal line.  The touchdown brings 6 points with the potential for 1 more in an extra point kick.  If the touchdown is unsuccessful, the ball is turned over to the other team with 0 points on that play.  But if the touchdown is achieved, 6-7 points are scored in the play.

There have certainly been times in the history of football when games have been won by multiple field goals adding up to higher points than the opponent accumulated in touchdowns, but it’s obvious to see how going for the touchdown brings higher reward and the best advantage for winning the game.  It’s also high risk, because you could end up with 0 points from making the decision to go for it.   

I realized that through this game strategy illustration, God was showing me a parallel between the end zone and the faith zone.  Simply put, it takes an act of faith to go for the touchdown. 

End zones are small areas where big plays happen.  These two small stretches of sod on each end of a football field make up only 1/6th of its size, yet game-changing scores happen on this ‘hallowed ground.’   Just out of curiosity, I looked up Bible verses with the numbers 1 6 in them.  More than one caught my attention relating to the important decision Craig and I had to make, as I considered what the Lord was showing me with this football-and-faith analogy:

Proverbs 16 (verse 1):

“To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.”  (Translation:  Make your important decisions based on an answer from the LORD, not from your own human logic and plans)!

Philippians 1:6

“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Translation:  We can CONFIDENTLY TRUST GOD to carry the ball across the goal line when we are in the faith zone with Him)!

Craig and I went for the touchdown with our investment decision.  We already know it is going to be a game changer for our life and family, and we also know it is a game changer in stretching our faith. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and He will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6