How Much Faith

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

Hebrews 11:13

This is the very essence of faith, "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see..." v1. How do we Christians talk about faith? We throw the word around like it's something tangible and quantifiable. Can we really build faith? Is there some method or formula to attain it? You can definitely practice it and build your foundation around it but faith is something you either have or don't. This is nicely summed up in Matthew 17:20, "... I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." It doesn't say when you attain this level of faith then you can move mountains. The same faith that heals the sick is the same faith that encourages us to forgive & serve. All believers have this faith, it's our unbelief that gets in the way. We need to stop listening to the devil's lies and pay more attention to God's voice of Truth.

I remember first starting my wonderful journey with Christ, how those words in Matthew 17:20 rung in my mind. I took it as the opposite, that I don't even have a little bit of faith; and that led me to think negatively about my walk. But as I grew in Christ, that passage was such an encouraging verse; that by just choosing Him through faith there's nothing we can't do with the Spirit within us.

So now where do I stand in faith? Do I have faith like all those mentioned in Hebrews 11; to live such faithful lives without ever receiving the promises of God? I can say with all honesty, that would be hard but we still press through and follow Him. Right now, my finances are shaky and I have a bit of anxiety because of it. How am I going to pay my bills? On top of that, I really really want to take bible classes and attend seminary but how am I going to pay for it? Where's my faith in all this? Do I just enroll and pray to God to fill my desires? Do I just continue on as normal hoping God will intervene? Or do I involve God with all my thoughts and decisions through a relationship? Yes, I need to do this. Whenever I kneel to pray and worship, I do this because I have faith that God is there waiting for me to sit with Him. My faith brings me to my knees. Without faith, how do I justify my posture? It would seem foolish to talk to myself and sing praises about nothing. Running to Him shows where our faith is.

Heavenly Father, thank You for building me into the person I am today. But You're not done with me yet, You have many more plans and this is just the beginning! Thank You so much for including me in Your heavenly works! Thank You for being the source of all faith... In the awesome name of Christ Jesus I pray, Amen!