Today’s guest post is by Joseph Iregbu. Joseph leads on purpose and is passionate about raising the next generation of leaders. He is the author of Even in the Well and a free eBook Lines of Impact. He lives in Germany with his wife and daughter, and is a coach and mentor to young leaders across Europe and Africa. You can connect with him on Twitter @J_Iregbu, and his blog, where you can read about his Story of Hope.

Have you ever heard the phrase: “Just take a step of faith?”

I have, almost every week. It’s a good phrase. It’s powerful too, and church folks love it. But here’s the problem: we have become too familiar with Christian jargon that we no longer understand what they mean in reality.

Taking a step of faith means you have to move. Well, you cannot do that by sitting on the couch all day. You must do something. For some, it might mean to dust your résumé and apply for that job, or take on that part time work you would rather not do so you can pay the bills in the meantime, or volunteer at the charity organisation where you get to impact lives locally while waiting for your big break on national level.

Faith Grows in Unexpected Places

Next time you ‘pray’ for faith, God is saying; “Start doing”.

Faith grows in unexpected places. No one experiences transformation under a sunny beach, sipping red wine. You could try. But it probably won’t work.

True transformation is not experienced in the place of ease. We experience faith in hard places, when we make hard choices. We must be willing to step into the unknown like Abraham, not knowing where God was leading, but trusting that He was faithful to lead well.

You cannot simply ‘pray’ faith into your life. Trusting God doesn’t come by meditation but action. You have to ultimately do something to demonstrate you believe. Don’t get my wrong; praying is fundamental. You must do that. Oh how we ought to pray more! Praying is indeed a demonstration of faith to some extent.

My point is that there are times we become so spiritual about issues that God has given us the platform to deal with. We become overly holy; we convince ourselves “I am seeking the face of the Lord” when God has clearly given us His leading on the matter. In doing this, we often fail to maximize His known purpose and will for our lives.

Faith Embraces Pain

We grow faith when we act. We grow faith when we step into the messiness of life and get our hands dirty, doing the work we may not naturally desire while we trust and wait for God’s leading on the next move. That certainly contrasts with a life of ease. Why? Because faith embraces pain.

Faith is not theoretical but practical. Faith is life. And life comes with making hard choices at times.

What practical and hard step will you commit to take this week to grow your faith?