I’m so thrilled to have my lovely friend, Jess Connolly, as a monthly contributor here. I know you will enjoy getting to know her through her beautiful words shared in this space.
In 2014, my word of the year was Faith.
As a 10-year church member and a pastor’s wife, it almost seemed kind of silly – because right, faith? I should know about faith. I should understand faith. I should have faith. I live a life of faith.
But when I got quiet and still, I realized that faith was this very visceral idea, with very little concrete effect in my real life. If I live a life of faith—what in the world does that look like? And what do I have faith in?
The Bible describes faith as being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you can’t see. With that in mind, I started really asking—what am I hoping for and what am I certain of? Holding both of those answers firmly in my hand, I am able to point somewhere very specific in life, in business, in my relationships. And walk forward. In faith.
For me particularly—I hope that this is not all there is. I hope that the best things on earth pale in comparison to what I’ve heard about heaven. I am certain that I need help, specifically from God. I’m certain that on my best day, I’m not really super capable of all that I’m doing, and even though I can’t see Him, God helps me. I have faith in those things, and because of them I don’t really have to live in fear about moving forward.
And here’s the interesting thing: even though I spent years of my life not thinking too much about where my faith was, or what it was in—faith was never neutral. Whether we identify what it is or not, we’re certain of a number of things and our hope is centered around something. It’s so worth paying attention to WHAT those things are because it massively affects the outcome of where we go and what we do. If we’re certain we’re going to be successful and hoping we won’t have to work too hard, we’re obviously not going to get far. If we’re certain we’re failures and hoping for nothing, we’ll live in defeat and despair.
We’re all pointed somewhere and we’re all headed to something.
What’s in your hand?
What are you certain of?
What are you hoping for?
Jess Connolly is a gal who wants to leave the world more in awe of God than she found it. She’s a passionate entrepreneur, author and speaker and loves talking to women about Jesus on the internet or over coffee. She and her husband Nick have recently planted Gospel Community Church in Charleston, SC. Jess is the cofounder of The Influence Network and the lead designer + owner of Naptime Diaries Shop. Her first book, Wild and Free, co-written with Hayley Morgan, will be out in spring 2016 with Zondervan. She blogs at jessconnolly.com.
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