Wouldn’t it be cool if we could move God’s hand? Control it in some small way? Imagine it was something we could ride and steer around, drive from where we are to where we want to be, clearing every little obstacle in our path. How awesome would that be? We could see and know for CERTAIN that He was working in our lives. Hmm, if only we had a hand in making His move.

Well here’s a little secret: we do.

And I think I know how we can make that happen. (No, not by building a giant mechanical hand or a human ladder to Heaven, though that would be suuuuuper epic.)

It’s this little formula right here:

Faith + works = God’s hand moving.

You gotta have faith, and you gotta have works. That’s what James says in his second chapter, verses 14 to 17. He says faith without works is dead. One without the other won’t do it. To make our faith whole and see Him work in our lives, we’ve gotta put in some work, too.

It reminds me of a phrase I keep on my desk at work. “Shift the weight in creation’s favor.” It basically means to balance what I consume (take in) with what I create (put out). For instance, don’t just read, write. Don’t just look at art, make it. Don’t just listen to music, play your own. Because it’s easy to be a sponge and absorb. It’s harder (but more rewarding) to take what you absorb and actually do something with it.

I would’ve never looked at this phrase in a spiritual way had I not been at work while writing this blog. (Don’t tell my boss). But thankfully I was, because God immediately made the connection. Don’t just read scripture, apply it. Don’t just feel the spirit, follow it. Don’t just sit in church, participate. Don’t just acknowledge your gifts, use them. It’s the classic battle between [easy thing] and [hard-but-brings-a-blessing thing] that’s constantly going on inside.

Sometimes I wonder why I’m not seeing God’s hand move despite reading and going to church. But then the Spirit kicks in and says, “Maybe you’d see it move if you picked your spiritual rear end up off your spiritual couch.” OK, the Spirit doesn’t actually say that. I say that. The Spirit says, “Let’s take a stroll down memory lane” and reminds me of all the times acting on my faith made the difference. Like the time I didn’t want to get anointed but did, and He gave Brother Billy Buffa an experience about me that to this day is sometimes the very thing that gets me through.

So, to make sure I do more of this, I made a list of ways to exercise my faith:

1. Make a list of ways to exercise my faith (Oh, look at that. Done!)
2. Practice His songs on the piano, so I can actually play them for the saints and not just the dog.
3. Grab a friend, pick a day, and fast and pray together, so I don’t let it slide or give up.

So, turns out we don’t have to build a human ladder to Heaven to move God’s hand. We can move it from right where we are if we just put our faith to work. And while making this list is the tiniest of acts, it’s a start. A start to finding the balance between feeding my faith and exercising it. To trying to give as much as I’m receiving. To shifting the weight in creation’s favor, and leaving it there for good.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.