A Trailblazer's Faith: Living the Evidence of Things Not Seen

In life, I have continued to be a trailblazer: the first in my family to graduate from college, the first male in four generations to be a father to my children, and the first in my family to overcome the various dramas and hang-ups you might expect from someone coming from the South Side of Chicago. What does a successful life really look like? I have been asking myself this question ever since I began to dream of a better life for my family and myself. I have been searching, looking at other people's versions of a beautiful life, and this has left me wanting. Living a life focused on gaining validation for how to live based on what I see in the world, I now see that this approach is flawed.

I am often asked, "Tyrre, how did you make it from where you were to where you are now?" and the answer is faith! In the beginning, it wasn’t my own faith, but that of my grandmother, then my mother. These women prayed over me; they affirmed and pushed me to be more than I even thought I could be, and that carried me for the better part of about 34 years. But at some point, I had to have my own faith to walk this journey called life. What is faith? I used to think it was confidence in something. But as I have been building my own relationship with my Father in heaven, I have come to realize that faith is so much more.

Hebrews 11:1 says that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Until recently, I could never quite grasp the meaning of this verse. Here is how I have come to understand it: My grandmother and mother had faith in the man they hoped I would become. The things they hoped for have been all that I have done and more! Their prayers are the evidence—the prayers for me to be a strong man of God that takes care of his family, a trailblazer in industries, to overcome poverty, and to be a generous steward of God's provision. This is faith. The substance was the hope of who I would become when there was no evidence at the present time that any of this would come to pass.

Hebrews 11:3 provides a little more context, saying, "Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This has been the major unlock for me. At 35 years old, I faced adversity that my grandmother's and my mother's faith couldn’t carry me through. It was time for me to stand on my own in who God says I am and who he has called me to be. But the catch is, there is no blueprint that I can see. God has made each of us unique. We all have a special purpose that only we individually can fulfill. For the longest time, I was trying to find my purpose through what other people were doing. This world was formed by the word of God, yes, but looking for my purpose in what everyone else is doing won’t help me at all. The word of God has been my key. It’s the only resource we have in life that scales to support each and every one of us differently, all at the same time. If this doesn’t absolutely blow your mind, keep reading the Bible and doing what it says, and you will understand what I'm saying.

This is why Paul says in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The more I read the word and do what it says, the more faith I have in what God has created me specifically to do. There is no one in the world that I can model my life after. I have been uniquely made for a unique purpose to do the will of my Father in Heaven, and he has provided instructions that were uniquely designed for me to build my faith for the journey. I have never been more excited about the substance of the things I am hoping for and have never had more evidence of things not seen for what God has in store for me. So whenever someone asks me how I went from the South Side of Chicago to running a nine-figure business, from four generations of fatherless men to raising my kids and being the father I never had, through every obstacle I have had to go through to get to this moment, my response is: my faith, and it comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God, not by what I can see.

Prayer: Father God, I thank you for this word. I thank you for the prayers that carried me to the point where I had to build my own relationship with you. Thank you for creating me for a purpose and for your word. I pray a blessing over each and every person reading this right now. I pray that they would no longer look with their eyes for validation of who you have called them to be. I pray that through your word they would hear and do your will for their lives. Holy Spirit, I pray for revelation and for transformation. I pray this in the name of your son, Jesus! Amen.