Having Faith in God - Do You Need a Lot or a Little?
"I Barely Have Any Faith!"
Have you ever felt this way? You feel like you're not very close with the Lord lately, or maybe you are a new believer, and you only have a tiny amount of faith. You feel guilty. You feel useless. You say to yourself, "How can God possibly use me for His Kingdom?"
It's OK, you are not alone! Look at the stories in the Bible. Many, many of the people God used to do great things for Him did not have amazing amounts of faith.
But... they did have a little! God can take the small amount of faith you have, and make it grow! So don't give up!
Abraham Took a Leap of Faith
God told Abraham to leave his people and the only land he had known, and go to a new place. He could have said No out of fear, but he chose to obey the Lord and take a step of faith!
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;… (Genesis 12:1-2)
Abraham was faithful to obey the Lord, exercising his faith instead of turning back in fear.
Again, Abraham's faith was tested, when his wife Sarah was unable to have children.
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
(Genesis 15:1-6. Note that Abraham's name had not yet been changed; at this time, he was still called simply, Abram).
The important thing to realize here is that God recognizes and rewards our faith in Him. It doesn't have to be a massive amount of faith; we just have to take God at His word and act accordingly! Then, we will surely be blessed!
The Disciples Had Little Faith
Even the disciples, who walked with Jesus and who were taught by Him day after day, had very little faith, as we see over and over in the New Testament.
"The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you." (Luke 17:5-6, NASB)
See, all you need is a tiny, tiny bit of faith, and God can do great things through you!
"He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.” (Matthew 13:31-32, NASB)
Do YOU have faith as small as a mustard seed? Yes, that's a very tiny amount - but that's all it takes!
Hebrews 11 - Highlights "Triumphs of Faith"
It turns out that faith, next to obedience, is one of the #1 things God requires of those who seek Him! The Bible highlights these people who triumphed in their faith in Him, not by having a lot of faith necessarily, but just by taking that step to trust in Him and obey Him in the lives.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."
(Hebrews 11)
Someday God Will Add YOUR Story!
Someday your story of faith and obedience will be added to these - that is, if you are faithful and if you obey!
What do you choose? Don't let yourself be discouraged by the enemy, or by anyone who tells you that you can't do anything or your life can't make a difference.
As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
No matter what the circumstances look like, or what you see around you, will you choose to walk by faith today, trusting what God has told you? All His promises are true!
Blessings to you!
