I remember when my husband and I were trying to live on about $1,200 a month. We were both working full-time and fighting a losing battle just to stay afloat.

We listened to motivational audios that told us to believe in our dreams. And we did—we knew we could have the kind of life we truly wanted. But when it came down to the actual numbers, it was hard to see how any extra money could ever show up.

Looking back now, I understand why having faith in the middle of that kind of scarcity felt almost impossible.

Here’s the thing:
We knew exactly how much money we had coming in.
And we knew exactly how much our expenses exceeded that income.

If true financial success requires some level of faith—believing in something before there's any visible evidence—then how, exactly, is someone supposed to find that kind of faith when the evidence all says it’s hopeless?

Well, over time, I learned that three things helped me build that necessary faith:

1. Continuing Education – Learning marketable skills and studying the laws of success.

2. Work – Investing time, money, and energy into income streams outside of our regular jobs. (Even when they didn’t make a profit for nearly ten years!)

3. Choosing to Believe in God – Believing He cared about our success, and trusting that He was orchestrating things behind the scenes—as long as we kept moving our feet.

For nearly a decade, we worked and studied, and worked some more. We believed that eventually, abundance had to find us—if we just kept showing up and trying.

It reminds me of the early settlers in our desert region.

Before they could benefit from a flow of water, they had to dig ditches and build canals. I’m sure it took them years to prepare those systems—and they had to do it long before the water arrived.

It’s the same when you’re exploring your talents and learning how to monetize them. You’re not just “waiting for a breakthrough”—you’re building a system. It’s tempting to think that a big, sudden flow of money would solve all your problems, but without the proper systems in place, that rush could be as destructive as a flash flood.

You don’t want the gush until the ditches are ready.

It hit me one day after my husband took the leap into full-time self-employment. We couldn’t predict exactly where the money would come from anymore—like we could with a paycheck—but the more trenches we had dug, the easier it was to trust that something would come through.

Isn’t that interesting?

After so many years of effort—years where nothing seemed to pay off—it became easier to say, “The water could come from any one of the hundreds of trenches we’ve dug.”
Instead of saying, “I don’t see how this could ever work,” we could finally say, “We’ve created space for it to flow.”

And compared to our early years, believing had become easier.
Having faith had become easier.
And faith is the critical piece.

All the work in the world without faith can be just as useless as all the faith in the world without work.

Like the saying goes, “Faith without works is dead.”
Because without effort, faith means very little.
And your effort? It’s how you prove you believe in a more abundant life.

But here’s something else I’ve learned:
When faith feels hard, work can help it grow.
That’s why I believe the unexpected cure for doubt is this:
Education and work.

So, if you can’t yet see where the money will come from, shift your focus.
Learn something new.
Start offering a meaningful service to others.

God did not bring you this far to fail now.
Keep moving forward.
Your reward is already being prepared.

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