I came to a place in my life where I didn't know what I should do next. After some time of praying, I found what I need to do next. God confirmed my plan and I started arranging to leave the country I was in.

However, I encountered something that seemed like a closed door. I applied at a hostel to volunteer. God seemed to direct me there but there was no answer from them.

The right time to buy flight tickets was approaching at an incredible speed. Four weeks and there was no answer from the hostel. I wanted to make another step yet I couldn’t.

Sometimes a simple “no” is more helpful than dead silence.

I knew God called me to that particular hostel. The confirmation I received from God was clear. I only needed for the circumstances to align.

After some time speaking to God what’s up with this situation, I started to recognize that I’m not really taking a step of faith.

I was completely confident of God calling me there but I was stopped by circumstances. The silence from the owner of the hostel hindered me from stepping out into the unknown.

A conversation with a friend and me explaining the matter made everything clear. I believed I was called to go there and I needed to act on my faith. I knew I’m safe when I obey God and there was no reason to doubt.

After speaking to my friend I went to my room and booked the flight tickets. I felt relief and excitement to see what’s going to happen next. There was no fear in my heart. The action confirmed what I had in my heart all along.

There is nothing more exciting than having trust in God when the circumstances are not giving any promises of the situation turning out for my benefit.

An hour passed by and I came back to my computer. I wasn’t expecting anything yet but after the flight ticket confirmation, there was another letter.

It was a letter from the hostel! The letter came 50 minutes after the flight confirmation. As if they knew! The owner of the hostel was asking if I still wanted to come since the busy summer season is over. Of course, I wanted to — I already had the ticket!

Reviving faith by acting upon it

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26, ESV).

James isn’t speaking about the works of the Law but about acting upon the confidence you have in your heart. If, after I made a promise to give you a car, you start to look at a place to park it, imagine yourself driving and making plans for future trips, your faith is alive.

If you don’t believe me, you forget about the promise because you’re in unbelief.

How does a dead faith look like then?

Dead faith is between the unbelief and faith. It’s when you don’t receive the gift even if you believe you’ re are going to be awarded.

Did you know that God accredits not the part of believing but the action in accordance with what you have faith in? If it’s merely the confidence about the fact, demons would be pleasing God.

“You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.” (James 2:19, ERV).

Demons have faith that God is one, yet they act in contradiction serving someone else and rebelling against the One.

Is feeling an action?

There’s another truth in the latter verse. Demons have corresponding feelings that go along with what they believe. It shows that what we believe impacts how we feel. However, God is not approving feelings.

Often, it happens that our feelings contradict what we have faith in when the truth we believe is not established in our hearts.

It’s like smoking and feeling the damage done to the lungs and doing nothing about it. Faith is present knowing that smoking kills but it’s dead because there are corresponding actions.

I have nothing against people who smoke. It’s just an example. In our church, we have a saying that smoking doesn’t cause you to go to hell, but you only smell like you’ve been there.

What I’m attempting to say is that faith is useless (doesn't profit us) when we don’t act upon it. We hope for a different outcome while we are doing something that brings a result that we don’t desire.

I bought the tickets because I had confidence I was supposed to be in that particular country. If the truth is the truth, it’s going to happen. It’s time to hop on the train without hesitation that it will bring us where it promises.

If God said it, it will be the way He declared because He never changes. We give a breath of life to our faith when we act upon it and receive the promises.

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