Doesn't it feel like every day there’s yet another headline about someone powerful falling from grace? Wealthy leaders, admired influencers, executives, public figures... people who built something impressive and who have seemed almost untouchable, suddenly exposed for dark, unethical, or deeply disappointing behavior. It’s sobering to watch.

Success itself is not the problem.

Success is lawful. It's obtained by following certain laws and principles. One does not accidentally build wealth, influence, or a massive platform. Certain governing mechanisms are activated, and when they are consistently applied, they produce predictable outcomes. The System works. Unfortunately, the principles can be (and are) used to facilitate not just positive growth, but also destructive, evil ends. 

Whether we like it or not, the principles of success are morally-neutral. And that should be sobering to all of us.

So here’s what's been weighing on me:

People can achieve goals and build something big without building something stable. You can activate laws that generate money, attention, growth, and expansion. You can influence markets, command rooms, scale organizations, and shape public opinion. But if you're not aware of and aligned with another category of foundational governing laws and principles, the structure will be prone to eventually crack.

In other words...

There are principles that create success, and there are principles that make the success safe.

And the two sets are not always employed together.

This distinction is what compels me to keep working on the book about Rare Faith. I'm still working on it as much as I can, and feel so eager to get it done.

(If you haven't started reading it yet, download the first two chapters here.)

Brief Recap:

I shared why I hesitated writing about it for years, and how facing my cancer diagnosis forced me to realize the book was one of those unfinished assignments that felt too important to leave undone.

I also talked about the early phase of our marriage when my husband and I struggled financially for seven years, trying to be obedient. But what we realized was we were obeying some laws while expecting the rewards connected to entirely different ones. Blessings are connected to specific governing principles, and if we want a particular outcome, we must align with the laws attached to that outcome.

I introduced the idea of the System as something akin to gravity or aerodynamics. If you mix incompatible approaches, you create cross-currents. I mentioned the sourdough metaphor and how sincerity doesn't compensate for structural inconsistency. With critical elements missing, the structure is unstable.

And that's what we've been seeing in the news - the collapse of the lives and personas of high-profile individuals who may at one time have seemed like they had it all.

Therefore, I'm not just interested in helping people learn how to activate results. The principles do that. I'm even more interested in helping people build on a foundation that cannot fall.

It's the whole purpose of the Rare Faith book... I've even been thinking about changing the tagline from "Rare Faith: the kind of faith that causes things to happen" to "Rare Faith: the kind of faith that moves mountains". Because this is not just about "making things happen". It's about knowing when to act and when to hold back. Knowing when to push forward, and when to surrender. Knowing when to fight, and when to retreat. God only knows what is best for us, so learning to connect with and trust in His wisdom is truly key.

Rare Faith isn't just about applying the principles that secure your own needed provisions; it's a way to fortify the vessel that receives them. When our characters are shaped while we're building capacity, the expansion we long for becomes safer.

Sometimes it means growth is slower than we want it to be, and slow growth can be frustrating for sure. But in light of building a life on solid ground, slow growth can be much more desirable in the long run, more so than the flash-in-the-pan success that we think we want, but which often exposes our weaknesses faster than they can be dealt with.

Allow the deeper foundation-work to do its job, so that expansion doesn't have to be quite so dangerous.

In short, there are principles that create success, and there are principles that make that success more safe.

The laws that govern the System are real, and they are available to benefit everyone. But success alone is not evidence that the foundation is solid, and not every path to success will leave the same kind of legacy.

What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be remembered?

I hope to be dropping the next chapter soon. Let me know if you are looking forward to reading the book by leaving a comment below. If this topic matters to you, say so. It will help me know I’m not just writing into the void. :)

Warmly, Leslie