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Faith Without Works is Dead…But What is Work Without Faith
The other day I watched an episode of the “Healed Girl Era” podcast hosted by Gia Peppers. What caught my attention is that she was interviewing one of my new favorite actresses who hit the scene big in the last few years, Danielle Brooks. It is a great interview, if you haven’t seen it, check it out, it is an hour well worth watching (I’ve included the link down below).
During the conversation the host talked about faith without works being dead and that faith was the easy part, but Ms. Brooks expressed something that I have always felt and I think is what so many black women experience. She said, “I feel like the work part is the easy part for me. I’ll put in the work. I WILL put in the work. It’s the faith part that tripped me up not too long ago. I had hope but not faith”.
When I heard her say this, I almost shouted. “Yes, yes, yes”, I thought to myself, “Yes”!
As black women we are known to work. We are taught to work. Work is what we do. Often being referred to as “strong”, being the most educated demographic in the country, and overcoming the constant struggle that is inherent with being a black woman in America…we KNOW how to work. We work without even thinking about it most times. But faith…that is a different thing.
Yes, we go to church. Yes, we pray. But are we exercising faith?
To me faith is full confidence that something will happen, even if you don’t know how it will happen or when it will happen. You know that God will make sure it happens. You just move knowing that it will happen. You start the work the way you know how and then allow yourself to be led through it until it comes to fruition. It may happen quickly; it may take quite some time. It may even not happen until you have moved on, but you have to KNOW it will happen.
I recently experienced faith in a way I’ve never experienced it before. I’d always believed in my heart that I was to become an author. I have always enjoyed writing but besides my dissertation, I’d never written a book. I knew I could grind through it and so I started to write. Little by little I worked on a book. I outlined some chapters, I wrote a chapter, I shared an excerpt with my network to get feedback. I had faith that I would become a successful published author. Then one day I sat down at my computer to journal about something I was going through, and the words just wouldn’t stop coming. I wrote for several days in a row and before I knew it, I had a completely different book almost completely written. Once I activated my faith, God did the rest.
I suddenly found myself thrust into the world of interviewing editors, learning that I might have a second half career in the world of ghostwriting, and actually hiring a publishing coach. What I believed would be my first book is not, what I thought I would write about is a completely different subject than what my book is actually about, how I thought I would write it is not how it happened, and the people I thought I’d work with are not the people I am working with. But it is happening! Back cover blurbs are written, cover design is in the works, edits have happened, and it is truly coming to fruition…in God’s timing and God’s way, not mine. I knew I could do the work, but exercising the faith has catapulted me into a whole new experience and realm of life.
Have you exercised your faith today or are you working without faith?
We all know that faith without works is dead, but…
Work without faith is tiring, depressing, anxiety filled, anti climatic, and just not what we were put here to do.
I challenge you to exercise your faith in a whole new way today.