Susan Dies: 0:38

Welcome to the One Yes At A Time podcast. My name is Susan Dies and I'm here with my co-host, Keidra Hobley... and today we are continuing our discussion about faith. Faith is such a broad topic. It is so deep and it's so wide, and for the believer, it is the foundation for our relationship with God through Jesus... and there's just no way that we can cover this topic in 20 minutes so we've decided to just continue the discussion in order to just try and at least touch on some of the different aspects of faith and what it looks like to live out our faith in our everyday lives. Now, Keidra, you mentioned in our podcast last week that as Christians, we can't live a life that pleases God without faith.. Right... which means that faith in God, and faith in his promises is key to the Christian life. It's how we come into a relationship with God through Jesus, but it's also how we grow in our relationship with God. And so that's gonna be the focus of our conversation today. And I shared with you recently that I went on your website, keidrahobley.com. and I was looking at some of your teaching materials. You've been teaching God's word to ladies for many years and I came across some sessions that you recorded back when you were doing your Refresh women's retreats, sometime between 2016-2018... and I actually got to be a part of that one time. You invited me to come for the weekend and speak, which I have to say is probably one of the most fun retreats that I've ever had the privilege of being a part of... it was so much fun. In fact, I remember that even though I was the main speaker for the event, you were the one hosting the event, and I remember seeing a very different side of you that I'd never seen before. I've always been used to the very reserved Keidra...

Keidra Hobley: 2:18

yep.

Susan Dies: 2:18

But when that event started that night, I remember thinking, who is this girl? Do you remember me? I said that to you. I remember... like, who are you? Yeah.. Because this is not the Keidra that I know. It was probably the first time I think I'd ever seen you dressed in anything other than a dress or a business suit. Yep. I think you were in jeans and a cute shirt. Mm-hmm. You had your hair down. And of course you have that million dollar smile that everybody knows... but there was just a joy and a freedom about you that just radiated Jesus. Amen. And I say all that because when I went to your website I came across one of your teaching sessions entitled"Grow Your Faith", which I think is so excellent and we're gonna be talking about that today. But what struck me is that when the audio started, the Keidra that I was listening to was the same one that was at that retreat so many years ago because there was just this excitement in your voice as you began to talk about the importance of us growing in our faith. And so my hope is that our listeners are gonna hear from that same Keidra today.. Amen... as they get to know your heart through our podcast and as they hear your heart on this important subject. And so I want to go through the teaching together and share the things that stood out to me and then I wanna get you to just expound on it. So, something you mentioned at the beginning of your talk, is that faith doesn't come by praying for it.

Keidra Hobley: 3:34

Yeah.

Susan Dies: 3:34

And I don't know why, but that just landed on my ears in a really fresh way when I heard you say that because so often we ask God for more faith to believe... when, if we would just choose to believe what God has already said to us.. Yeah... we would find that he's already given us the measure of faith that we need for the very thing that we're praying for. Mm-hmm. Is that right? That's right. That's absolutely right. Alright, and so you said the question is not, do we have faith? The question is, are we benefiting from the faith that he's already given us. So maybe just speak to that. How do we benefit from our faith? Mm-hmm. And how do we get the most out of this gift that God has given to us?

Keidra Hobley: 4:11

Well, first we have to realize we have it. Mm. Okay...'cause we can't benefit from anything that we don't recognize we have. If we're still constantly praying and begging for something that we already have... that suggests in itself that we don't even recognize we have it. And so I think that's the place to start... is to acknowledge the fact that the Father has already given us a measure and that that measure is sufficient... and that if we need more for greater things, there is already a pre-prescribed way to gain that... and praying is not it. I know that sounds kinda weird, but that's the fact. If the word says that faith comes by hearing the word... then the only way that you're gonna increase the level of faith you already have is by getting in the word. And so a lot of times we as believers try to avoid getting in the word. Hmm. And so I think that's the place to start. Get in the word. Acknowledge that you already have a measure.. Okay... and then start using what you already have.

Susan Dies: 5:03

So when we get into God's word, just find out everything that we can about what God's word says about the thing that we're praying for Yes. And choose to believe that. Yes. And act on that.

Keidra Hobley: 5:13

That's right.

Susan Dies: 5:14

Okay.

Keidra Hobley: 5:14

And I love the fact that you said,"and act on that." Because faith is a verb. It requires action. We have to do something with it. So I like the way you said that.

Susan Dies: 5:22

I think it's important for us to understand that faith is this ongoing journey as we talked about. Mm-hmm... and for me personally, what increases my faith in God the most... is when we create this history with God, where we can look back and see his faithfulness to us as we've trusted him.

Keidra Hobley: 5:38

Oh yeah. I think the greatest example of that for me is financially. I mean, literally because, my youngest was in my womb when the Lord told me to quit my job.

Susan Dies: 5:48

Okay.

Keidra Hobley: 5:48

Yeah. And she's 20.

Susan Dies: 5:50

Wow.

Keidra Hobley: 5:51

And so, and so you talk about a walk of faith. I haven't had a traditional job pretty much since then. And so to live by faith financially... and I don't recommend this unless the Lord told you to do it'cause you'll go hungry. But this was an instruction from the Lord. Yeah. Yeah. And so just to trust him and take him at his word because in the natural it makes absolutely no sense. Right. It makes no sense at all. I mean, you have things you have to pay for. How do you pay for things without income? Well, in that moment, quit your job was the word of the Lord to me. And so if he said it. I believed him. I trusted him. I could not wrap my brain around how he was gonna do it. Mm-hmm. But over the decades, over the 20 years that I've been trusting him financially, it is miracle, after miracle, after supernatural provision. So there's nothing you can tell me now that will cause me to believe that God doesn't have an infinite number of ways to provide. So, yeah.

Susan Dies: 6:47

Yeah. So you have to really pray through things like that. Yes. But anyway, I love that. 2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us,"Believers live by faith and not by sight".. Mm-hmm... and I see that in your life. And so talk a little bit about what that means. What does it look like to live by faith instead of sight? Mm-hmm. I mean, how do we do that?

Keidra Hobley: 7:06

Yeah. I think even in the last episode, I, I remember saying that, sometimes I tell people, close your eyes so you can see. Mm-hmm. So when it says,"walk by faith and not by sight", I think, uh, life circumstances... the things we can see and sense with our natural, physical senses are things that we use as data to make decisions, and, and that's not how the Lord works. He tells us his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. And so when we have to operate by faith instead of by our senses, by our sight, I'm not saying ignore the natural, but I'm saying allow the supernatural to override the natural. Right. When you know that God's in it. Yeah, absolutely. And so it takes a conscious effort to do that sometimes because we wanna make decisions based on what we can see... instead of trusting God for what we can't see.

Susan Dies: 7:55

Something I think is so interesting, if you look at the context of this verse in 2 Corinthians that I just talked about... that we walk by faith and not by sight... is that the verses before and after... verses 6 and 8, both say,"we are confident." Mm-hmm. The point being that our faith as Christians is not based on wishful thinking and hope so's. It's based on the unchanging nature and character of God and on the truth of his word. That has proven faithful time and time again down through the ages. Now, Something you said in the last episode that was also in your teaching about growing in our faith is that we all start out with the same measure of faith. Yeah. And I'm not sure I ever really even thought about that before because throughout my life I've known people who are really strong in their faith, and I've known some people who are really weak in their faith, and I don't know that I've ever let it sink in before that we all begin our journey of faith with the same measure of faith. Mm-hmm. And so talk about that. Why if we all start with the same measure of God-given faith, why do some believers seem to have so much more faith?

Keidra Hobley: 9:02

Yeah, well think about your natural body. We all have the same muscles. And why are some people stronger than others? You know, I would like to think that I'm fit and strong and healthy. Mm-hmm. But the truth is there's some muscles in my body that I just don't use or I don't use as much as others. And why is that? Because I'm not being intentional about exercising them. And so some people have stronger faith because they're exercising their faith muscles. You know, it's not just exercise though, it's also diet. Our bodies are a reflection of diet and exercise.. Right... and so is our faith. Our faith is a reflection of our spiritual diet and our spiritual exercise. So the diet is the word of God. And so if we're feeding our spirit good, healthy, spiritual food through the word, that's gonna grow our faith.. Right... because faith comes by hearing. Right. And so if we do that... and then exercise our faith, what does that look like? That's stepping out in the things that we've learned. That's how you exercise your faith. And the more you do that, the stronger your faith is gonna grow. And so some of us, even though we start out with the same measure. Some of us have a stronger faith because we are eating more healthy, nourishing spiritual food.. Mm-hmm... and exercising those spiritual muscles, versus others who are just comfortable. Hmm. We're just comfortable..

Susan Dies: 10:20

That makes me think about something that I heard Christine Caine say one time. Do you know who Christine Cain is? I do know Christine Cain. She's incredible. She says, you know, we all wanna have more faith. We all wanna see God move in miraculous ways, but then we do everything we can to live as safely.. Mm... and as comfortably as possible so that we don't ever need God to do anything miraculous. Wow. Because most of the time when that kind of faith is required, it's in circumstances and situations in which we have no control. Uhhuh. And if God doesn't come through for us, we literally have no hope and no one wants to be in those kind of circumstances that require that level of faith, but yet we all want that level of faith. But this is the thing, at some point in time, if we live long enough, there's gonna come a time when we need that kind of faith. Yeah. And for those who are willing to put all their hope in God, no matter what the circumstances look like, Isaiah 49:23 says,"Then you will know that I am the Lord, and those who hope in me will not be disappointed." Yeah. And this is God speaking and this is his promise. Um, now I know we're about to get on some sacred ground here,

Keidra Hobley: 11:31

Uh oh...

Susan Dies: 11:31

But we gotta go here because I know there are those who are listening, who are thinking, you know, I've prayed with that kind of faith. Mm-hmm. I've needed that kind of hope, and I've asked God to help me. I've even begged God to help me. But the thing that I feared the most did happen. And now I don't know what to do or what to believe, and I do feel disappointed. So what would you say to that person when they prayed in faith.. Yeah... and they didn't get the thing that they prayed for... and they don't even know that they believe God even heard their prayers because it just doesn't look like it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Keidra Hobley: 12:03

Well, again, I would encourage you to know that God's word is true. And if he said it, it is truth. And he's a God of answers. He's a God who listens, who hears. And so just because we have prayed... there's a real enemy who's fighting to prevent those answers from coming. So sometimes the answer is coming. It just hasn't come yet. So that's, that's one thing that we can take into consideration... that his timing is not our timing. And then there are other potential reasons. I'm just covering a few that are coming to mind. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves is what we're requesting in alignment with his will? And so that could be the reason. And sometimes we just have to accept the fact that we live in a fallen world. And that the enemy is real. And so sometimes we just have to persist in prayer. And even if we don't get our way, you still trust God. You still believe that he is a good Father. You still honor him. You still worship him... and then you just worship your way through it until he reveals to you what's next for you in that particular situation.

Susan Dies: 13:08

So, for you personally.. Yeah... think about a time when maybe you were disappointed. Mm-hmm.. You prayed and prayed... you knew you were praying in God's will.. Mm-hmm... you knew that the thing you were praying for is something that God would want. Mm-hmm. And yet it didn't happen. Mm-hmm. How did you handle that disappointment? What was your thought process to move through that... and to even move forward from that.. Yeah... disappointment.

Keidra Hobley: 13:33

Yeah. Well, I mean, come on... the greatest example I can give today is the fact that I'm a single woman. Mm-hmm. Not by choice, you know? And so, the fact that I prayed, I prayed, I prayed for my marriage. I fought for my marriage... and, I sit here today as single. And so, even though I fought and I prayed and I prayed and I fought, it, turned out the way that it did... but I still chose to trust God. And I still to this day choose to trust God. And, I accept the fact that I'm not gonna figure it out. I don't need to know all the answers. I still, to this day, don't know. And I have to be okay with that, you know, and still trust God. God, you still have a plan for my life. You still have things for me to do and I cannot sit and question why what happened, happened the way that it did, and allow that to hinder me from moving forward with what he has for me. And so I just choose to accept the fact there will be some things that I don't understand. And even though I don't understand, it doesn't mean that I can't still exercise my faith. I still trust you, Lord. I still worship you through it. I still move forward with the things you have for me. Yes, absolutely there is real, tangible, natural pain that is associated with some things that we experience in life, but we cannot allow it to end there. Okay? Feel the feelings. They are real... and God gave them to us but that does not have to define us. That's right. And it does not have to hinder our future. And so I don't try to figure it out. I don't try to, you know, make it make sense.'cause it, it makes no sense, you know? And so I choose to move forward with the plan that God has for my life, to surrender...

Susan Dies: 15:09

That's so good. I know that you've said before that sometimes you just have to surrender it to God. Absolutely. And you don't have to know the why's or the what's. Mm-hmm. And just the fact that he loves you, and he's sovereign, and he allowed things to turn out the way they did regardless of your prayers. Mm-hmm. You just had to walk in trust and faith. That's exactly right. And so that's so good. God never promised that we would not go through hard things, or terrible things, or difficult things, even tragic things. In fact, God's main promise is that he will be with us... that he will never leave us or forsake us. That he will heal what's broken. That he will bring beauty from the ashes... that he will turn our mourning into dancing, and all of this takes time. And so we just have to keep believing. Mm-hmm. We have to keep trusting. We have to keep moving forward and just keep giving him our hearts and our hurts, and know that even when it doesn't look like it, he is doing something and he promises in Romans 8:28 that he's working all things together... the good and the bad... for our good and for his glory. And we know that He will because he's promised. Yeah. And you're a testimony of that. Amen. My life is a testimony of that. Yeah. And that takes faith. It takes great faith. Another point you made about faith is you talked about the different kinds of faith mentioned in the Bible, and contrasted them, and I'm gonna remind you of what they were. Okay, good. And then you just talk a little bit about some of these. You talked about little faith. Mm-hmm. Versus big faith or much faith. Yeah. You talked about weak faith versus strong faith. Yeah. Rich faith versus poor. I love the way you said it. Who wants.. Who wants broke faith? I remember saying that. We can be full of faith or we can be spiritually empty. We can have complete or mature faith versus incomplete or immature faith. Yeah. We can have genuine faith versus fake faith. Mm-hmm. Nobody wants fake faith. Mm-hmm. But there's a lot of it. Uh, shipwrecked faith. And then overcoming faith.

Keidra Hobley: 17:09

Yeah.

Susan Dies: 17:09

Talk about some of those.

Keidra Hobley: 17:10

Ooh, man. I think I was just so amazed that the Lord revealed to me all those different terms adjectives to describe the different types of faith. And so I thought it was really cool to parallel those. Yes. But, genuine faith. I think a lot of times we deceive ourselves into believing that we have great faith... sometimes we believe we have faith that we don't... in certain areas, Because a lot of times we can speak faith words and have no faith. And, and we can be strong in faith in one area and weak in faith in another area.

Susan Dies: 17:47

Right. And it's not until that faith is tested, it's in that area. Yes... that you find out if it's real or not. Right. You mentioned, speaking about genuine faith, that Abraham proved his faith.. Mm-hmm.... by what he did. So in other words, by his obedience. God told him... you're gonna be the father of many nations. Yeah. I'm gonna bless you. I'm gonna give you a seed, I'm gonna give you a land... but I'm gonna need you to leave this land.. Mm-hmm. And go where I tell you to go. And Abraham believed God.. Yes... and actually did it.

Keidra Hobley: 18:19

Yeah.

Susan Dies: 18:20

And for that reason, he did become the father of many nations... father Abraham. Yeah. And his was the nation through which God brought his son Jesus. Mm-hmm. And of course, we know that Israel still has their land. And that's, that's a whole other podcast. A whole podcast. We're not even going there. But I thought it was interesting that since you were talking about real and genuine faith that you talked about Abraham and how our faith is proven genuine.. Mm-hmm.... by the things that we actually do.

Keidra Hobley: 18:50

Yeah. Because genuine faith, faith of the heart, not just in your head... it stands strong no matter the circumstances. Hmm. So no matter what circumstance you're in, you're still strong in your faith. That's how you know it's real. That's how you know it's genuine. And such was the case with Abraham. You know, even the fact that he was, what, a hundred years old and his wife was 90. He absolutely believed God when he said, yeah, can you imagine? I can't even imagine that. Yeah,

Susan Dies: 19:19

That your descendants are gonna outnumber the sand on the seashore, the stars in the sky, and he's that age? Yes. Can you imagine his wife?

Keidra Hobley: 19:27

Bless her. God bless her.

Susan Dies: 19:31

Anyway, I was thinking about 1 Peter 1:7 that says the ultimate purpose for the hardest things that we go through in life is to prove that our faith is genuine.. Mm-hmm... when we go through trials... because it's easy to have faith when life is good. It's so much harder to keep believing and to keep trusting when life hurts and when it doesn't make sense. And I love that in this verse, Peter says that our faith is more valuable than gold. Mm-hmm. And we know that gold is purified by fire.

Keidra Hobley: 20:00

Yeah.

Susan Dies: 20:01

And so is our faith. And I love the story about the Goldsmith who was asked,"How do you know when the gold is pure?" And his answer was,"When I can see my reflection in it." Oh, that's so good. And so God sits as a refiner of his people... and it's in the fires of life that he proves our faith genuine. What do you think about that?

Keidra Hobley: 20:21

I'm still stuck on when I can see my reflection in it.

Susan Dies: 20:25

That's right. Yeah.

Keidra Hobley: 20:26

Because a lot of times I think we are saying we have faith and God cannot see his reflection in us.

Susan Dies: 20:32

That's so good because the point is that our faith is purified in the fires of life and when people can still see Jesus in us.. Mm-hmm... in the midst of the fire... not just when life is good.. Come on. When it's hard and when it hurts and when it feels like our heart's being ripped out... it results in praise and honor and glory to God from the people who are watching.. Mm-hmm. And they see God in us, and they see that he is the one who has brought us through it. And I was thinking about this word through I think it's one of God's favorite words. Isaiah 43:2-3 says, when you pass through the waters.. Mm-hmm.. I'll be with you. Yeah. When you pass through the rivers... when you walk through the fire... for I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel. Your savior. Amen. So, one way or another, he has promised to get us through it, whatever"it" is, and in the process, if we will just trust this promise.. Mm-hmm... and just hold on... our faith will be made stronger and others are gonna see and know that our God helped us. Yeah. And that if he'll help us, then he will help them too. And so our faith is an encouragement to others who are also going through trials of their own. And so...

Keidra Hobley: 21:46

Can I just say this right there? Because.. You can say whatever you wanna say. Because I'm just visualizing the through. I love the fact that he didn't say around. Because the through is the place where the faith is built. Because if we constantly just go around, we so often want to outskirt life circumstances, you know, and, and think we're gonna have strong faith. It's the resistance that builds the muscle. Right? Right. It's the pressure. It's the weight of life that builds muscle. Right. You said. So I love the fact that it's going through those things, not around those things. Not over those things, you know, it's through. So I, yeah. Uh, I'll probably sit with that verse a little bit after we get off.

Susan Dies: 22:25

Well, I think we're about at the end of our time. We're gonna pick back up with this topic of faith in our next podcast, because we still have some other things to cover. But let's go ahead and wrap this up today. Would you mind praying a prayer of faith over our listeners today before we go?

Keidra Hobley: 22:44

I'll be happy to. Father, thank you so much. You're good. You're faithful. Your love endures forever. We thank you dear Lord for the measure of faith that you have given to each of your sons and daughters right now. Father, I'm asking you to help each of us to walk in that faith... that we would put action with our faith. Dear Lord, that we would not just be hearers of your word, but that we would be doers of your word. Yes. That we would apply those things to our lives that we have learned from your word. I thank you, dear Lord, that your word is good spiritual food. Help us to continue to feed on your word. Help us to exercise our spiritual muscles, dear Lord, by stepping out in faith on the instructions that you have given us both directly, and through your words so that we can be strong in our faith... and not weak in our faith. Yes. We thank you for it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.