Christians are supposed to walk by faith, not by sight, right? This isn’t an easy way to live, though!
Faith is hard sometimes - believing what God has told you in His word instead of the circumstances that are screaming in your face. And, not just believing it, but living and acting like it’s true... before it is. Unbelievers think your crazy for counting on something that isn’t real yet, but you are living by faith in something solid as a rock. The key to it all is that your faith is submitted to God.
If you are putting faith in the lottery and you’re faithfully buying a ticket each week you might not be submitted to God in that area. If you’re trusting God to save you from financial ruin, but you’re not working your butt off at every opportunity He provides you, you might not be submitted to God in that area. If you’ve met the “person of your dreams,” but they don’t know Jesus and you pursue them anyway, you’re probably not submitted to God in that area. I can go on and on, but the one thing I’ve learned - God is faithful to HIS word and will... not to ours.
God teaches us in many ways, but we can never forget that He is the teacher and we are the student; He is our Father and we are His child. So when you stand I. Faith, make sure you’ve got His word on it - then STAND.