Faith is not ‘hope so’ but knowing . . .

 

2 Chronicles 2; Nahum 1; Luke 17; 1 John 2

 It might be my black and white perspective of things, but when I read these verses, I’m thinking that faith is like a light switch . . .

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:5–6)

Faith is not big or small — it is on or off. Comparing it to trusting another person, I might trust my neighbor to water my plants when I am gone, but not to answer my email. On in one case, off in the other. Maybe this is the sense that the apostles wanted their faith increased, but Jesus made it clear by compared it to a tiny mustard seed that it is not a matter of size.

Faith is an odd thing. It is knowing something is true without being able to see it. As Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” What puts that assurance in my heart? It is hearing what God says and believing it; “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 but what makes me believe it? I’ve read how some Israelis memorize the entire Old Testament and don’t have faith. I read the Bible for seventeen years without believing it or even understanding what it says. Now I have total assurance of its truth. What makes the difference?

Looking back, my ignorance may have helped in that I didn’t try to figure it out. I had no religious theories or ideas of who Christ was or why He came. I can see now how those who rely on their own understanding come up with unbiblical notions of God and His grand plan of redemption. Therefore, lacking human reasoning is helpful in that it keeps the mind clear for another kind of thinking.

Also, I didn’t seek the explanations of others. I was not in a church, only in my home reading the Bible and other books. I might have been a sitting duck for cults and false teachers but that didn’t happen. I see now that God protected me. While some of the books I read were fanciful fables, God used them to put inquiry into my thinking. He instigated “What if God . . . .” questions, but without answers . . . yet.

Then faith happened. Jesus Christ came into my living room, not literally so I could see Him with these eyes, but I knew He was there and who He is. I just knew. And I know now that faith is a gift.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

And with that gift, He changed my life.

Once I told this to another person and she said, “How do you know that you just didn’t do this by yourself?” Not sure what her question meant but I am certain of the changes. I had a new attitude toward others, a new attitude toward sin, and a deep awareness that Jesus was with me and would never leave me. I belong to Him and trust Him. Yet I understand the question: “Increase my faith?”

At first, I was believing Jesus will take me to heaven when I die, but not believing that He will take care of all my needs while I am here. He had to show me . . . I was dirt poor and never missed a meal or left a bill unpaid. Somehow Jesus provided. I believed then that He would take care of my needs but struggled that He would take care of my husband and again, He had to show me. He motivated hubby to walk down an aisle and receive Him one Sunday and I was totally surprised.

Even recently, while praying for my adult children, He arranged a miraculous ‘note on the window’ to affirm His great love to one of them, a mystery message that proved He is worthy of my faith, never mind the affect it had on the recipient!

Faith comes by hearing. I am supposed to walk by faith, not by sight yet God knows sight is sometimes needed. Notes are rare, but answered prayer is often. I see lives changing, my own included, and I know that the Word of God that spoke the universe into existence is also able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that I can ask or imagine.”  I am learning to ‘ask big’ because this God in whom I trust is a big God; nothing is too hard for Him. He can do anything!

APPLY: Keep my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Because He is who He is, I can trust Him for everything, no matter what may challenge me.