Have you ever spent much time meditating on what faith really is, and what it means to have it? Do you know when you are walking by faith or the amount of faith in your life? Do you have faith as small as a Mustard seed?
Jesus said that if I had faith as small as a Mustard seed, that I would be able to move mountains, that there would be no prayer that wouldn’t be answered, and that nothing would be impossible.
The problem is that I haven’t seen too many mountains being moved lately. Nor, for that matter, much of anything else miraculously happening around me. Ya, I can talk about how the little things in life are all miracles, and I can read about miracles that happen on occasion on Facebook. But, I am talking about living in the miraculous. I am talking about seeing the mountains of life changed, and the trials of life being overcome.
When I ask most people what they believe faith is, they refer to Hebrews 11:1 which says “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” That sounds really Biblical, but what does it mean, and how do I get to that point in my daily life?
To me this is the problem that I see. Far too often we use words that we haven’t yet defined, or our definition is Biblical, but not really understandable, even to us. I never understood faith until the last couple of years, as God has shown me through His word and practical applications in my life what it really means.
That to me is really the problem that I lived with the first few years of my Christian walk. Faith is not a word, and it is not something that can be understood without experiencing it and allowing the Holy Spirit to show me personally what it means. Faith is not something that I can create, but it is something that I can choose to walk in. Faith is something that is revealed. As I allow God to stretch and grow me to the point where I learn to walk by faith, more and more every day.
Most people that have genuine faith can tell story after story of how that faith was torn-down, rebuilt, strengthened, destroyed, and then built up again.
Let me give you some examples from Scripture, of what I am talking about.
Mark 10:46-52 is a great example of faith in action. A blind man, named Bartimaeus, was sitting by the road when he heard that Jesus was coming. He began, by faith to yell for Jesus. The people started telling Bartimaeus to be quiet, because that is what happens when you begin to walk in faith. People around you begin to tell you to “calm down”, “quiet down” and “don’t make a fool of yourself”. From my experience, this will often come as much from inside the church, as from people outside. In fact I would say that often time the people who supposedly have no faith, are more interested in real faith then those that claim they have it.
Anyway, blind Bartimaeus just yelled louder, until Jesus heard him. I believe, that as was often the case, Jesus was moved by this man’s faith and asked Bartimaeus to come to Him. He then asked this seemingly odd question:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
This seems odd, because obviously Jesus would have been able to tell that this man was blind. The stumbling through the crowd, putting his hands all over people while trying to feel his was to Jesus. Bart probably had some trouble finding Jesus as he listened for His voice. Bartimaeus would have been most likely a beggar also because of his disability.
Bart answers with what we would expect. “Rabbi, I want to see!” Then Jesus said “Go, for your faith has healed you.” And instantly Bartimaeus could see.
Often this was the way that Jesus healed. In fact I would say it was usually the case, where Jesus would reference the faith of the person being healed, actually being what healed them.
Here is another example, of many in the Bible, but I think a very different kind of circumstance, that builds faith.
In Matthew 15:21-28 a gentile woman comes to Jesus. She was an outsider, not a Jew, and therefore would have been greatly looked down on by the people of that day in Israel. Her daughter was possessed by a demon. She came and begged Jesus and his disciples to free her daughter, and her faith was not going to take no for an answer.
So, again the people around her asked her to be quiet, then told her to be quiet and then asked Jesus to send her away. This time it was even the disciples that were asking her to go, and for Jesus to get them out of this spot because the woman wouldn’t quit.
What was interesting about this time, was that Jesus actually seems to reject the lady and implies, what everyone else was thinking, that she was a dog because she was a gentile. But, the woman didn’t get offended, nor did it deter her faith, and because of that Jesus actually replies to her, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted.”
What I see in both of these exchanges is a lot the same. A person has a need, then believes strongly enough that Jesus is the answer, so that they will not be deterred. They put themselves up against the crowds, and continue to believe even when others are telling them to just give up. Because of that kind of faith, Jesus rewards them for their faith, with what they were hoping for, and believed that only Jesus could do for them.
The difference in the 2 different stories is where much of the opposition came from. In Bartimaeus’ story, the opposition came from the people that were just following Jesus, watching the show. However, in the gentile woman’s story the opposition came from the Disciples and even Jesus.
Yes, as hard as this will be for some of you to believe. I do believe and have experienced Jesus, and His people, opposing my faith so that it will grow. In fact I am positive that faith only grows when it is challenged, and stretched beyond anything that I could imagine. It is much like a muscle, which has to be broken, destroyed and stretched before it can be strengthened and grown stronger.
My life has often been like the exchange between the disciples and Jesus, when they came to him about all the people needing food and lodging in Luke 9:10-17. The account goes that there was 5,000 men plus families. Jesus has led them out into a remote place and had been teaching them there for hours. Now the people are tired, hungry, and a long ways from any services that could provide for that many people.
The disciples came to Jesus, and ask him to send the people away, so that the people could get food. But, then Jesus says something that again seems so strange, “You feed them.”
This exchange looks so much like what faith building has been like in my life. It seems to require a bunch of different things.
I have to be willing to follow Jesus into remote, uncomfortable places. I have to be willing to allow Him to put me in a place of need. And, I have to begin the steps of trusting Him even in the places that make me scared.
I have to listen to His teaching. For me that means getting up early and reading my Bible. It means listening to the Holy Spirit through prayer, and it means surrounding myself with people that really hold me accountable, people that I am willing to trust enough to allow them to speak into my heart when I need it, and especially when I don’t want it.
Then, when I come to Jesus, and the need is overwhelming, I have to expect that He is going to say, “You take care of this.”
This really is faith in action!
Each step building upon itself until Jesus has me right where He wants me, totally relying on and trusting in Him for every piece of my day to day life.
Here are some of the things that I have allowed to stand in the way of this kind of faith lifestyle.
Fear—wow this is such a big subject that it will have to be another blog post. But, fear is the #1 thing that stands in the way of faith. Fear of failure is my chosen fear. I have had a long history of failures. At least by the world’s standards they have been failures. However, as I have learned that each one built and strengthened my faith, I no longer see them as failures but instead as victories.
Opposition—this was one of the hardest for me, because often the opposition came from places I didn’t expect, and people that I thought I could trust. As I have really dove into Scripture, I have found that this is usually the case Biblically, and that opposition is something that God uses and allows for me to become more like Him.
Quitting—this is a response to the other 2 things. But, as my faith has grown, perseverance has grown. My faith has finally been built to the point where I am beginning to understand some of the Scriptures that used to frustrate me because, I couldn’t figure out how they could be true. What I saw in my life didn’t line up with the promises that I read in God’s word. However, this is the key to faith. It is believing what is true in God’s promises, instead of believing what I am seeing in my life. This has been the key to faith. It is trusting that God is good even when my circumstances are not. Faith is knowing that God is only allowing what is good for me and what will make me more like the image of His Son Jesus.
More than anything else it is fulfilling Hebrews 11:6 in believing that God not only exists but that He is good and rewards those that diligently seek Him. Even when those rewards haven’t arrived yet in the Physical or may not look like what I think they should look like.
Most of the time God’s rewards for faith have been the changes in my heart far more than the changes in my circumstances. Since I do not have any major physical deformities God chooses to change my broken heart to a new heart of flesh that beats for Him. Just like with surgery, there is often a lot of pain involved before the healing is done.
Here are some of the Scriptures that I have strived to reach, and now am beginning to live in. I am going to leave you with these to meditate on, and to see what Jesus wants to do to build your faith.
Galatians 6:9 New Living Translation (NLT)
9” So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
James 1:2-4 New Living Translation (NLT)
Faith and Endurance
2” Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Finally, the verses that were revealed to our family at the beginning of this trip of faith, and the promises that I hold onto as they become truer each day.
1 Peter 1:6-7New Living Translation (NLT)
6” So be truly glad.[a] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
So please, the world needs to see our faith! They need to see you living a life of faith. They need, to see the power of the Holy Spirit revealed through acts of faith. Most of all they need to know that Jesus is real and not just another “Easter Bunny” story.
This world is starving for lives of faith. So, ask Jesus how and where to reveal what He is doing in and around your life, and then go and shine for Him!
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