One of our family mottos – probably the main one – is “keep moving forward.” This has been a consistent word from the Lord that He has repeated to our hearts across circumstances, seasons and situations. It is something that resonates deeply with us on several levels. Our current season is one where “keep moving forward” almost comes as a daily challenge – the way forward is not apparent, there is a decent amount of uncertainty and circumstances seem filled with roadblocks.

And yet, in this time, God is doing something remarkable and revolutionary in our hearts. He is more profoundly tying “keep moving forward” with faith and producing something that is daily fresh and potent. It’s easy to move forward when you have a plan, when you’ve laid out a strategy and are making it happen. But to move forward when your plan is simply God Himself brings an entirely new dynamic to daily life. I’ve always been a “Plan B” type of person – not necessarily to try and mitigate the “what ifs,” but to simply be prepared. In my heart, that Plan B was necessary in case God didn’t come through like I thought He should. As it turns out, virtually all my Plan B’s were really Plan F’s – as in Failure – some so catastrophic in their failure that the damage was far reaching and long lasting. When you exclude the Lord from a plan – whatever the letter you give it – you condemn that plan to fail, maybe today or in a month or twenty years from now.

In reality, if you commit your life to Christ and to follow God with your whole heart (or as much of your heart as you can muster), you quickly find that God rarely “comes through” like we think He should. To try and constrain the One who created time to some arbitrary timetable or expectation we hold in our mind or our hands seems not only ludicrous, but actually pretty disrespectful. God moves as one who knows the end from the beginning, who always lives in the present and who – somehow – knows what’s best for us and can weave every single circumstance to channel that best into our lives. I can’t explain it and often feel like I can’t grasp that truth enough to trust it, but it is true nonetheless.

And that’s where faith steps in. I’m not talking about the faith where you say, “yeah, I believe that” but the faith that says, “I believe that so much I’m compelled to take action.” You can believe that God heals, but if your belief remains in the realm of concept or doctrine only, there’s a good chance you’ll never actually see God heal. But if that belief turns into faith, you’ll find yourself stopping people on the street to pray for them and knowing that something is happening because your faith is the evidence of something you may not see.

There is an old DC Talk song called “Luv is a Verb” and I feel like there needs to be a song called “Faith is a Verb” because for the first time in my life I understand in a fuller sense the words of James (James 2:18): “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Faith requires action because it sees something beyond the realm of the physical and is compelled to bring it forth; it reaches into a place of partnering with God to unleash a creative power on the earth that transcends and transforms circumstances and situations. This faith is not tied to doctrine or theology, but is a living, active, dynamic force that is almost tangible.

This faith can keep you moving forward in all circumstances because it brings forth into our reality the truth that God is the plan. This faith that looks at the impossible and says, “Yes! This is exactly what we’re looking for, God – an opportunity for you to reveal more of your glory.” When Jesus was about to resurrect Lazarus, he said, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40) and when he healed a man born blind it was “so the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:4). Faith looks for the impossible, because that is where God “shows up” and God is looking for those people who stand in front of the impossible, knowing God will meet them there (2 Chronicles 16:9 – a little interpretive liberty taken).

I don’t want my family to leave this season unless we can keep moving forward with this kind of faith.