I'm sure we've all heard the saying before, "Fake it until you make it." But is it really a viable option in seeing breakthrough in your goals and desires? How many times do we wake up in the morning not feeling motivated to move forward, let alone get out of bed? How often does feeling rejection discourage us from pursuing the dreams in our heart? How about when the people who's opinion we value most tell us we don't have what it takes? Irregardless of these experiences, in the right context, "faking it until you make it" is valuable and somewhat essential in seeing your dreams and goals accomplished.
I want to establish that "faking it" begins in our own minds, established through our words, and then flows into our experiences. This is what I want to focus on as you move forward in pursuing your dreams. Let's begin with some insight the Bible has about our thoughts:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor 10:4-5)
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. (Ephesians 6:12-14)
The Bible makes it pretty clear that the battles and challenges we face in this world are not battles in the physical world around us, but battles against speculations, and thoughts that are elevated above God's true thoughts about who He is and His thoughts towards us. Our belt of truth is defined by Him and the body armor of God's righteousness is bestowed on us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are created to take an active roll in capturing thoughts that are counter to who God is and who we are, and submit them to the obedience of Christ (the finished work that He established through the cross and resurrection).
I want to define really quickly what the finished work of the cross accomplished:
I am dead to sin and have a victorious DNA in me (Romans 6:11; Romans 5:17).
In Jesus, I am 100% loved and worthy to experience all of God's blessings (Colossians 1:12-15).
God richly supplies all my needs (Phillipians 4:19).
My prayers are powerful and effective (2 Corinthians 5:21; James 5:16b).
I walk in ever-increasing health (Isaiah 53:3-5; Psalm 103:1-5).
I live under a supernatural protection (Psalm 91, Hebrews 8:6).
I prosper in all my relationships (Luke 2:52).
I consistently bring God encounters to other people (Mark 16:17, 18; Acts 3:6).
This sounds pretty amazing right!? Well, on some days our emotions and circumstances don't always align with the truth about who we are and our relationship to God. Really it comes down to the fact that we don't FEEL like these things are true about ourselves and God.
A while ago I heard Steve Backlund share this thought:
"Any area of my life that is not glistening with hope is an area that I am believing a lie."
The reality is we are created to live an abundant life! God is all-powerful, all-loving, and in a good mood! While we are battling against principalities and powers throwing garbage into our minds about God and ourselves, we truly have been made new and walk in the same (and even greater, according to Jesus) supernatural power that Jesus did when He walked the earth. Why is it then so difficult to maintain this perspective on life and circumstances when we experience difficulty?
Ever since we were born we have been training our minds. In a way, through our experiences, choices and establishing patterns of behavior, we have "hard-wired" our brains to respond to situations and circumstances without even thinking most of the time. For instance, someone may have a stressful day at work where their boss really put them down, their instinct is to go and have a few drinks in order to relax, while at the bar they meet a person they are attracted to, and looking for love and acceptance (because they didn't get affirmation from their boss), they go and sleep with that person, and wake up the next morning completely regretting their choices. Granted every person's wiring is different, but these patterns of behavior are often rooted in experiences when we felt pain and insecurity as children and never sought out healing for that pain. We numb ourselves so that we can function and, in many cases, survive because we have been ill equipped to know what to do with our suffering.
It is in our original design to have the most core parts of our heart be synchronized. A person is made up of three distinct core parts, functional, emotional and protector. According to Andrew Murray, the functional part of a person is the task master who believes that knowing or facing certain information about one’s past is incompatible with survival and functioning. The emotional part is most often associated with and connected to pain, depression, and negative emotions from past experiences. The protector part believes that function and emotional parts must be kept apart or the function part would be too overwhelmed to function. Therefore, protector is devoted to keeping them apart. We won't go into a lot more detail in this blog about these three parts, but I wanted to lay the foundation for how "faking it until you make it" can be done in a healthy way.
So we've established that every area of our lives should be glistening with hope. This is what motivates us to move forward in pursuing our goals and dreams. There are a few issues we face when we aren't resting in that glistening hope. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." So when we are missing out on that hope, our heart is sick. We become hopeless and unmotivated to go after our dreams. In referencing the core parts of a person, there are three options for how a person can respond to this deferred hope:
1) The functional self takes over and the emotions are numbed. This sounds like a great idea, and at times this is necessary to do (I think of paramedics that come onto a scene where a child is severely injured), but you cannot selectively numb emotions. The problem that occurs is that in the midst of numbing the negative emotions we also numb the positive ones, which ultimately leads to burnout and establishing really unhealthy behaviors, such as addiction, projecting on other people, or any number of other behaviors that substitute dealing with the pain that was experienced.
2) The emotional self takes over and emotions run wild. I'm sure you've met people in your life who seem like they are on an eternal emotional roller coaster blown about by the day's events and don't seem empowered to do anything about their circumstances.
3) The third option is to introduce Jesus to those negative emotions so that the functional and emotional self can meet in a healthy balance in order to move forward without the lies that are established in those negative experiences. Letting Jesus be the protector in your life.
This leads us to faking it while you make it. There have been events in your life that established lies in your thinking about God and yourself; thinking you have to protect yourself and make up for the lack in your life. The reality is, you are incapable of protecting yourself (while still living abundantly) and you have been made whole through the work of Jesus. The lies established through your experiences need to be uprooted and replaced with truth. So how do we do that?
First, when you are experiencing a lack of glistening hope, immediately go to God to ask Him the lie you are believing. Ask Him how that lie got established in your thinking, and then ask Him what the truth is about who He is and who you are even in the midst of the experience that established those lies. By doing this first, you avoid going through the motions of the functional side and actually deal with the root issue.
Second, begin to fake it until you make it. Now that the root issue has been addressed and God has spoken the truth about Himself and you, hold firmly to that truth whether you feel it or not. Speak out the truths He has revealed about you. The power of the tongue can bring death or life to you and the people around you (Proverbs 18:21). James 3:2-5 says, "Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire."
Because your mind has been going through the same patterns of behavior and thinking for quite some time, a re-wiring/renewing of your brain/mind has to take place. Even the Bible acknowledges the active renewing of your mind: Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God - what is good and well-pleasing and perfect [these are your dreams!]. (Romans 12:2)
By speaking out declarations (as you do the possible even if it feels like you are faking it), God will begin to do the impossible, and you will begin to feel AND experience the truth about the glistening hope that is resident in and throughout your life.
For a list of some great daily declarations go to: http://ignitinghope.com/declarations/
In addition to words, here is an interesting TED Talk about how body language not only affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves:
