Pastor’s Corner: “Exercising Your Faith”
Luke 17:5 (NKJV) – 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
Faith is the primary attribute of following Jesus. It takes faith to believe in a God you can’t see. It takes faith to step out and do something new for the Lord. This faith isn’t in yourself, but in Jesus Himself. When we put our trust in Him, we are expressing our faith. When we send up a prayer expecting an answer, our faith is in action. You can’t manufacture your own faith. It is something that has to be given.
God has a way of stretching our faith so that it can be increased. He does this by giving us things which make us uncomfortable, which challenge us, and which try the faith which we possess. Tests and trials are ordained by God for our good. They are not malicious as if God delights in seeing us struggle, strain, and suffer. But like a coach or physical trainer pushes an athlete beyond his limits, even to the point of feeling sick, God allows trials to come our way to make us stronger. James 1:2-4 (NLT) – 2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
His purpose is good, and He causes all things to work for our good as we are made more and more into the image of Christ (Romans 8:28). We should not be surprised if we desire to grow deeper in our faith, even asking God to revive our hearts, and then we experience difficulty. In order to strengthen us and teach us to lean only upon Him, God often takes away all that we rely on so that we rely only upon Him.
In order for our faith to increase, we need to exercise it in the face of the opportunities God presents to us. Faith grows with use. If we desire to have great faith, we must begin to use the little faith we already have. Put it to work by authentic and faithful praying, and it will grow and become stronger day by day. Dare today to trust God for something small and ordinary and next week or next year you may be able to trust Him for answers bordering on the miraculous.
Everyone has some faith; the difference among us is one of degree only, and the person of small faith may be simply the one who has not dared to exercise the little faith they have. According to the Bible, we have because we ask, or we have not because we ask not. God waits to be invited to display His power in behalf of His people.
Faith Is Like a Muscle and Needs to Be Exercised. One of the hardest things to do is to exercise our faith. It’s one thing to stretch out a little, but to do it until it hurts is another matter. Right? God’s nudgings pushes us to go into areas we normally wouldn’t go. There are times in your life when Jesus will ask you to do very hard things. You may have to endure an uninvited physical ailment. You may have to sacrifice comfort and personal fulfillment in the service of God’s Kingdom. You may be asked to live in close, meaningful relationships with people who are a source of consistent conflict and interpersonal challenge. The list could go on and on. Jesus knows these are challenging situations. He isn’t surprised by them or trying to sugar coat it. Jesus fully acknowledges the difficulty and yet says faith makes the impossible possible. If our trust in God is going to grow, we have to learn to step out in faith, moving out of our comfort zone and taking chances.
As we seek God’s wisdom for our lives, we must be willing to see the countless ways that Jesus is inviting us into a deeper walk with him, even though this depth may be challenging and uncomfortable. So, we must join our hearts with the apostles and boldly pray, “Lord, increase our faith!”
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton