Have A Little Faith, & Act On It – To Gain More Faith
Word-of-the-Day: ‘<Paul writes,> (20) Yet <Abraham> did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, (21) being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’ (Romans 4:20-21); ‘Dear children, let us not love <or express our Faith> with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’ (1 John 3:18)
In watching the Steelers beat the Ravens last night, I had little faith in their ability to do so. But I had faith, or else I would have watched something else, or better had gone to bed a bit earlier in the evening. But in having that little bit of faith, that they may just win, paid off as they did manage to pull it off and beat the Ravens and make the playoffs. Often, we have little faith, when faced with difficult circumstances. Sometimes we have little faith in ourselves and our abilities, sometimes in others. It sometimes comes with little Faith in God’s ability to see us through life’s difficulties, as if it is impossible for even the Lord to get us through the storms we face.
The Bible has many examples of even the pillars of Righteousness having such doubt and lack in Faith. Abraham had Faith in God’s promise of his descendants becoming a great nation, but as he and Sarah grew older had little faith that they would have a child, with doubt in that opening the door to impatience and him (with Sarah’s insistence and complicity) having Ishmael through Sarah’s maid Hagar.
Isaiah had Faith in God helping to show the prophets of Baal that He was the one true God in calling Him to bring fire upon the soaking wet altar and offering, but had little faith when Jezebel threatened to kill him, having him run off into the desert. The Apostles Peter and Thomas had Faith in Jesus being the Messiah, yet Peter had little faith as he went from walking on the water to sinking in the storm, and Thomas had little faith in seeing the resurrected Jesus in person.
So, it is common and perhaps a natural reaction when we react with little Faith to the situations we face. The ‘no-win’ scenarios when there is ‘more month than money’ to pay bills, or when a big problem springs up on us last minute. Our reaction is often one of faithlessness, not Faithfulness – even God can’t help us out of the situation we’re in.
But in every example, God answers those with little Faith with His ‘impossible solutions’; Abraham and Sarah did have Issac at a very elderly age (100 and 90, respectively), Isaiah was fed by the ‘angel of the Lord’ and heard God’s whisper in the wind to find out He reserved seven thousand Faithful servants in Israel. Peter was pulled from the water by Jesus and became the leader of the Apostles after Jesus’ Ascension, and Thomas’ Faith was strengthened once Jesus offered Thomas to touch his wounds.
A little Faith is still Faith, and with a little Faith there is always Hope. But God does not want us to simply have us say ‘I have Faith’ and then state ‘I can’t’ and do nothing. Sometimes it is realizing the impossible is possible in God. Before I was saved, we faced as situation where the next month’s rent was due, and there was no money to pay it.
Though I had not yet accepted Jesus, I prayed for the Lord to provide a means for the rent to be covered, as there was nothing I could do to come up with money in time. A day or so later, a check comes in the mail; it was a year after I had left the Army and they had found they owed me money in my move from Hawaii, enough to cover the rent – just in time to pay it on time.
Sometimes the action we take is prayer, sometimes it needs to be a direct action, though we have doubts in our ability to accomplish the task. When our well pump suffered a broken pipe connector on New Year’s Eve, in the middle of the afternoon, I was already worn out from other items I (and my grandson) had accomplished. But as the water sprayed out, the thought of ‘I can’t’ never came up, but instead ‘I don’t know if I can’ did – not no faith, but little Faith.
A quick prayer for the Lord to provide me strength, and thanking Him for the foresight in having a replacement pump and the PVC connectors on hand, allowed the pump to be replaced and running before darkness set in. Faith grew as the repair and replacement fell into place, and finding the right parts were on hand saved the anxiety on whether or not the local home improvement stores would be open so late on the last day of the year.
It is OK to have doubts, but we must have Faith and take action. Many have doubts in their ability to witness, or in their knowledge of the Bible to share with others. We often have little Faith in ourselves, but with Jesus, all things are possible through Him. When we lack resources, He will provide; when we lack knowledge, He will provide; when we lack strength and determination, He will provide. Our doubts are caused by having little Faith; our actions, or inactions determine whether or not we give Jesus the opportunity to overcome our doubts and build our Faith up.
Know that the Lord always has a plan for us, and it is always better than what we can surmise on our own. When in doubt, pray it out – and He will provide you in Faith the means to overcome your doubt and shortcomings, in His perfect way and in His perfect timing.
