The disciples make their plea directly to Jesus: “Increase our faith,” they say.
There is always so much to do. There are seemingly so many problems. “Increase our faith.” Help us out here, please!
There are so many challenges in our lives and in our world. There are so many needs. And of course, this is an ever growing number of people. There is so much conflict everywhere.
So, I guess we understand the disciples’ request: “Increase our faith.”
We live in a world of “decreased faith.” The problems on all fronts seem to be escalating: people are scared and people are scarred. There is massive financial debt hovering over our nation and over other nations, and a greater use of violence to achieve political ends. All of our systems—educational, economic, military, political, social–all of our systems are in “some kind of crisis.”
The “haves” definitely “have”…and the “have nots”…are definitely “in want.”
We might be tempted to say, (at various times in our lives) with the disciples, “Increase our faith.”
Faith is important. Faith is trust, faith is belief, faith is conviction, faith is relationship and it offers hope to the hopeless. What would you do — without your faith?
So more faith – must be a possibility…(or at least,) so the disciples thought. They yearned for even more trust, a surer conviction, a stronger belief, and a deeper relationship. To have greater hope for the present as well as the future they thought would be an added blessing!
C’mon Jesus, help us out. Can’t you see we are struggling, here? “More” would be better…bigger is always better…
You might think that Jesus at this time would be “jumping up and down for joy” and doing “holy cartwheels” all over the place. He wasn’t!
But not Jesus. No! He brushes the disciples and their suggestion off. No tips. No encouragement. No nothing.
They want more and Jesus tells them they “need” hardly any. Just a mustard seeds worth will do you…
And, like the old Brylcream jingle advertisement, “a little dab will do you!”
Isn’t this curious? Why not indulge them? I mean could more faith possibly hurt? I don’t think so…
Apparently, Jesus insists that faith in and of – itself – is powerful. Everyone knows that it only takes a small light to pierce the darkness.
God does not require us to be a “spiritual Jedi Master” to move in us, do things with us, to work through us or to simply – love us!
“A little is a lot if it’s all you got!” The important thing is to “hang on to the faith that is within you!”
Faith is first and foremost a gift.
Faith is a gift from God. Faith is a gift of “Grace” – pure grace. Faith, loyalty and bonding with God and Jesus – does not come in various sizes.
There is no such thing as a small, no medium, no large, no extra large, no 2 x sizes of faith or larger. What you have is what you have. Be thankful for what you have. There is no such thing as a “faith meter.”
But I can tell you this: on some days you may run cold…and at other times you may be lukewarm…and then there are those times when you feel all toasty and warm…and I suppose there are days when you are even “red hot.” The life of faith is like that. Our lives are like that! Sometimes we are gung-ho, and other times, not so much…
There are ebbs and there are tides. It happens to all of us.
You cannot ever judge another person’s faith. Again, be thankful for the faith that YOU have been given.
You do not always have to feel like some kind of “Spiritual Giant.” But you can always take hope in God’s word that says, “You have a measure of faith planted inside of you.” It is enough, it is enough!
Stuff is going to happen. Life is going to happen. Faith will be tested. You have to apply the faith that you have been given.
Stop trying to go it on your own. Stop trusting in yourself – to see you through things. Trust God and put your faith in him. A burden shared…is exactly that…a burden shared and half a burden.
It is easy to have great faith – when everything is going well…when you are riding high and do not have a care in this world.
It is the challenges that test us. That is the time to be strong in faith, to be strong in the WORD, to be strong in prayer. Put your faith into motion, share your burdens. And be accepting and be open to what God has in store for you. It is very simply called, “faith.”
Remember, faith is not about everything turning out ok…Faith is about things being ok, no matter how they turn out!