Faith is a funny thing. It isn’t supposed to be the crutch we lean on when life feels shaky, but rather it’s the solid ground beneath our feet. Biblically, faith isn’t wishful thinking or desperate grasping. It’s “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Yet, if we’re not careful, we start using faith like a makeshift shelter, walls built from fear instead of trust, scripture stacked like sandbags against the things we don’t want to face. We read warnings and stop at the part that stirs panic. We take promises and twist them into proof that we should stay small, stay guarded, stay in control. That’s not faith. That’s fear dressed up in Bible verses. From this place we can misinterpret promises, reading half narratives as a full picture and end up dismayed in the journey. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” At first glance, it sounds like a guarantee, a promise that if we trust God, our lives will be smooth, successful, and safe. We cling to it like a life raft, expecting prosperity, clarity, and open doors, and when things don’t go that way, when suffering comes, when uncertainty lingers, when prayers seem unanswered, we start to panic. Did I do something wrong? Why is my life falling apart if God promised prosperity? I must need to pray harder, try harder, control more… That’s how faith gets twisted into striving. We start using this verse as a crutch, and demand certainty instead of surrendering to trust. But here’s why context matters and what we miss when we stop reading to soon: God spoke these words to Israel when they were in exile. They weren’t prospering, they were displaced, broken, lost. And right before this promise, God had just told them they’d be there for 70 more years. The promise wasn’t about an escape from hardship. It was about God’s faithfulness in the middle of it. If we read the whole passage, we see a different kind of prosperity, one not based on comfort, but on God’s presence through every season, even the hard ones: “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13) The real promise? Not ease. Not escape. But the presence of God Himself. Faith was never about control. Take 1 Peter 5:8: If we stop there, the world becomes a battleground where we’re the prey, and suddenly faith looks like a survival strategy, a way to outmaneuver every threat, to keep ourselves safe. We brace for impact. We second-guess people. We live tight-fisted, white-knuckled, gripping onto control like it’s our job to hold the world together. But what happens when we keep reading? “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9) A wider context gives scope and the focus shifts. It’s no longer paranoia. It’s standing firm. Not in fear, not in defense, but in faith. We are not lone survivors, we are a people held, sustained, upheld. Faith is our foundation, not a crutch “Even here, even now, I am held.” It leads you into peace and trust. The storms may rage around you still but the peace that passes understanding is your calm and evidence that the wind might blow, but you will not be moved. Let go of the crutch. Step onto the foundation. Trust and obey. He’s got you. He’s always had you. Standing with you, Be blessed, Aimee Bold Existence Team Aimee – March – 2025
Take Jeremiah 29:11, one of the most quoted promises in Scripture,
If faith is leading you to strive, to protect yourself, to hoard and hide and hustle for safety, it’s not faith anymore. It’s fear running the show.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Faith is the solid we stand on, not the cane we lean on when we feel weak. It’s not a patchwork fix for the bad days. It’s not a shield we use to hide from hard things. It’s the foundation beneath our feet, the one that says:
This Is Causing Your Delay
This might be a confirmational word for someone. If you have been asking the Lord why you seem to not move forward and why you seem to be delaying and being stuck. It might be because you are resisting what God has already shown you and asked you to do without fully...
