March 31

“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it will obey you.” —LUKE 17:5-6

It is wonderful to have the desire to be used by God, but many people are reluctant, because they think they don’t have enough faith. In Luke 17:5, the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. Like the disciples, we have not understood the nature of faith if we’re allowing the little bit of faith we do have to prevent our willingness to be of service to God. 

We can’t have faith alone anymore than we can have love alone. Love has to have an object; a person, a dog, a car, and so it is with faith. Faith cannot exist other than in relationship to an object, and it is the object in which we place our faith that is the all-important factor. If we put our faith in thin ice and step onto it, in all probability, we’re going to sink by faith. If we put just a little faith in thick ice, and very nervously step onto it without sinking, it isn’t the quantity of our faith that held us up, but the thickness of the ice. In other words, the object in which we placed our faith was stronger than our faith.

The more we know the object of our faith, the more relaxed we become. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. That’s why it’s essential we get to know our Bibles, not as an instructional manual on how to live our lives, though it’s good for that, but far more importantly, that we come to know God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. 

The more we come to know the revelation God gives us of Himself, the more we trust Him and the less conscious we become of our faith. It begins when we first utilize that little bit of faith we do have, and earnestly seek Him. He will, in a way unique to each of us, reveal Himself, and keep doing so until we come to realize we have personally experienced God. As we grow and mature in our faith, we’re able to look back over past experiences, see how God has led us before, and know with certainty He is equally capable today and tomorrow. That’s why the most important thing in our lives is getting to know God more fully. The more we know Him, the more we trust Him, and our faith in God is no longer an issue, but an everyday disposition that comes naturally to us.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for working with the minimum faith I had, and flourishing it into many experiences of You. I pray that everyone take that first leap of faith.

TO REFLECT UPON: How has my faith in Jesus Christ grown over the years?