IBS-It Takes Faith

Sept. 12, 2011

Luke 17:6

"So the Lord said, 'If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,'  and it would obey you.'" 

In the previous verse, the disciples ask Jesus, "Increase our faith", and He replied "if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,'  and it would obey you." A similar response to this question that we still ask, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." If God blessed me, and just gave me the "faith" to believe  in everything He says He will do, is it really faith at all? God gives us the option to increase our faith. He already did/does the impossible, but it's up to us to believe in Him, what He has done, and what He will do. In His sovereignty, He has already given us the evidence we need to have the faith far larger than a mustard seed, but all He requires is that we simply believe in Him. The rest will come. I see this exhortation of Jesus in the topic of faith, similarly as I see the topic of God's love. If God were to just give us the faith with a snap of His fingers, would we appreciate the faith we were given? Not to put everyone on the same level, some might, but most would not understand the depths of God's love if we simply had it. Just as if we were forced to love God, we wouldn't desire a deep understanding of everything God sacrificed for us, nor would we understand the power of God if we simply believed God would do anything, and we knew without a shadow of a doubt what would happen. In not knowing what is to come, we are placed in the reality, that God is God, and we are not. We don't have the depth of knowledge to comprehend past the surface the good things He has done, and is doing, as well as what He will do in our lives. This growing of our faith is a process, that in order for us to slightly comprehend what He is doing, He allows us to go through things. All the way learning of His perfect way. His perfect plan. His perfect love: giving us, the perfect faith.

When I am faces with trials I want to be willing to face the test. I want to strengthen my faith, and my dependence on God. To show that He really is God, and I am not. To be able to believe in His plan for my life, and trust in Him and His love for me. I want to lay down my future at His feet. To not worry about what I am going to do, but have the faith to know that He will continue to strengthen me, and lead me in this journey, and that His works will be fulfilled through my life.