Believe and Manage
- Steve Backlund
- Jul 5
- 4 min read
Believe and Manage
By Steve Backlund
One of the greatest areas where we are tempted to be frustrated in our Christian life is believing for something that hasn't happened yet.
We have all experienced it. We are believing God for healing, but our bodies are still hurting. We are believing for a stronger marriage, but challenges remain. We are believing for financial breakthrough, yet we're still battling debt. We believe for emotional freedom while continuing to renew our minds that we are free and have a sound mind.
What do we do while we're waiting? I've discovered a simple principle that has helped me over the years: Believe what God says, and wisely manage what you're experiencing.
We set our beliefs according to God's Word (His promises, our identity in Christ, and what we believe He is telling us to do). There is often a season between receiving God's promises and seeing them fulfilled. It is the gap between belief and experience. That season is where “we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Faith isn't pretending the gap doesn't exist. Faith is refusing to let the gap determine what we believe.
Our feelings and experiences eventually move toward our deepest beliefs. The journey, however, is rarely instantaneous. During that gap between believing and seeing, we don't stop living. We don't become passive. We continue strengthening our beliefs while wisely managing today's reality.
Whenever I face a challenge or pursue a dream, I ask myself two questions:
What do I need to believe?
What do I need to do?
The first question anchors my heart in God's perspective instead of my circumstances. The second invites God's wisdom into my daily decisions. It asks, "What is the wise thing for me to do today while I continue believing for tomorrow?" And this wisdom done in faith will accelerate the manifestation of what we are believing for.
Those two questions have kept me from both passivity and discouragement.
Joel 3:10 says, "Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'" Although the verse comes in the context of God's call for the nations to prepare for battle, it beautifully illustrates a principle we see throughout Scripture: we speak in agreement with God's strength rather than allowing our present weakness to have the final word.
Notice the verse doesn't tell weak people to deny they are weak. It tells weak people what to say. This is a big difference.
If I am physically weak, I don't pretend otherwise. I may go to the doctor, receive prayer, improve my eating habits, exercise, take medication, or seek wise medical counsel. None of those actions are a contradiction of faith. They are simply wise ways of managing my present reality while continuing to believe for greater health.
The same principle applies to every area of life.
If I am believing for a stronger marriage, I don't ignore problems while waiting for a miracle. I continue believing God's best while managing the relationship with wisdom. I communicate better, forgive quickly, invest time together, seek counsel if needed, set boundaries as needed, and love well.
If I am believing for financial breakthrough, I don't stop budgeting or making wise financial decisions. I manage today's resources while continuing to believe for tomorrow's increase.
If I believe for emotional healing, I don't condemn myself because I still have difficult days. I continue renewing my mind, receiving prayer, pursuing wise counsel, building healthy relationships, and declaring God's promises over my life.
If I am believing for a prodigal son or daughter to return to the Lord, I don't stop loving them wisely. I continue praying, speaking life, setting healthy boundaries when needed, and trusting that God is working even when I can't yet see it.
I am learning not to confuse management with unbelief. In fact, wisdom is often one of the ways faith expresses itself. James tells us that Abraham's faith and his actions were "working together" (James 2:22). Genuine faith doesn't make us passive; it moves us to cooperate with God's wisdom as we wait for His promises to unfold. And, again, this wisdom, mixed with our faith, helps the promise be realized.
Believing without wise action can become presumption, but managing without believing can become discouragement. Healthy believers do both. They are believing big while managing wisely. They keep declaring God's promises while taking practical steps of obedience. They don’t lower their beliefs to match their experience. Instead, they allow their beliefs to gradually transform their experience.
I love saying it this way: Belief determines my destination. Wisdom determines how I travel until I get there.
We all are living with a gap between what we are believing and what we are experiencing. Don't interpret the gap as God's absence or His disapproval. This gap is where He develops perseverance, deepens our character, teaches us wisdom, and strengthens our faith. Truly, our feelings and experience will catch up to our beliefs, and the gap time is where we live by faith and manage our lives well with God’s glorious wisdom.
Declarations
I refuse to lower my beliefs to match my present experience.
God gives me wisdom to manage today's reality while I continue believing for tomorrow's breakthrough.
I walk in faith without denying reality, and I face reality without abandoning faith.
God's wisdom and my faith are working together for His purposes in my life.
My experiences are increasingly coming into agreement with what God says about me.
