Losing My Faith - Part II

Measurable degrees of faith

March 7, 2007

Today we will look at the measurable degrees of faith and what effect they have in relation to man and the power of God working, if any, in a situation. Before we get to the degrees I want to address two topics that impact the degrees of faith. 1) The origin of faith and, 2) How faith is expanded.

The Origin of Faith:

Faith is a gift from God. We do not wake up one day and set our minds in the direction of God and state that today I will believe in Him. Faith comes from hearing the Word (Rom. 10:17) and this Word makes an impact because of the illumination given man by the Holy Spirit. He opens our eyes and minds to the truth. We are led to believe in Jesus by Him. This is beyond our human will and capabilities. Our part in the origin of faith is responding to the truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit. He brings the convincing and conviction. We in turn are free to embrace or reject that which the Holy Spirit, not man, has revealed.

How Faith is Expanded:

Once we have come to the point of accepting the truth we now play a greater part relating to the growth of faith in our lives. When we accept Jesus as Savior we do not all-of-a-sudden have great faith. We do not instantaneously have a faith that trusts God in every area of our lives. We must set out to grow. This idea of growth, whether plant or animal, follows a plan set in order by God. In order for all living things to grow they must be fed.

There are two aspects to this feeding. Often one or the other is neglected. We need both to be well balanced. These two aspects are intellectual growth and experiential growth. I am to grow in knowledge and I am to grow in depth and breadth of my experience of Jesus in my life. My faith grows when I experience Jesus working in me and around me. The disciples were taught by Jesus and witnessed His miracles. The disciples proclaimed to the people that they were witnesses to the things Jesus had done. They were fed intellectually and experientially. Though Jesus is in heaven He is no less active today through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

If you are not being fed the Word of God you will struggle to grow. If you are not experiencing the presence of God you will struggle to grow. There are no short cuts. Your faith cannot grow because your spouse is on fire for Jesus. You may be influenced and indirectly fed, but that is not the same as pulling up to the table and partaking of the living bread of life personally. I would not expect my life to be sustained by watching my wife eat supper. I must also eat if I want to live. Your spiritual growth is directly related to receiving the Word (reading and hearing) and walking in the Spirit, living for God. I can assure you that if you have neglected the Word of God your faith is weakening. Weakening to the point that the storms you once could have withstood can now move you. Get into the Word.

Degrees of Faith:

There are degrees or depths of faith. You may envision a thermometer. The hotter the temperature the higher the mercury rises. The colder the temperature the lower the mercury drops. Our degree of faith will affect how we stand up to life’s challenges. Will we stay the course or like Peter start to sink into the water he was once walking on and called out to Jesus “Save me?”

1. No faith

No faith relates to one being empty and unable to trust God for the outcome of the current situation. This person will shrink back every time. I am not referring to an unbeliever. The unbeliever will have no faith in any area of life until salvation comes. This relates to the believer. Yes, he trust’s in Jesus for salvation, but what about protection or provision (We will discuss this idea more tomorrow).

At times the disciples exhibited faith so small that Jesus had to ask them if they still had “no faith.” He wasn’t asking them if they knew Him, but why didn’t they trust Him. In Mark 4, where Jesus made the comment, Jesus had told them “Let’s go over to the other side.” He did not say “let’s try.” He gave the command and they started out. Then the storm came as it so often does in our lives. Jesus was asleep. He was not worried. He knew the outcome. The disciples, due to the size of their faith and the size of the storm cried out for Jesus to save them. He did. What disappointed Jesus is that they felt fear for their lives. Jesus knew they were going to make it to the other side. They lost sight of the command/promise “Let’s go” and focused on the storm. This occurred because they had no faith.

2. Little faith

Little faith relates to one having some faith, but not enough to overcome the problem. We start out strong when the wind against us is weak. As the tempest begins to blow against us it begins to affect our headway. Eventually the storm becomes greater than our strength, that is our faith to proceed, and we shrink back. We call out to Jesus for help and again Jesus comes to our rescue amazed that such a storm could stall us once again giving evidence to our little faith.

Matthew 14 illustrates a good example of this weak faith relating to protection. Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water. The storm rages, he loses sight of Jesus and begins to sink. The storm didn’t overtake him. His little faith let him down.

Matthew 16 illustrates this weak faith relating to provision. They were worried because they had not brought any bread. Their little faith caused them to miss the point of Jesus teaching. Jesus reminds them of the feeding of the 5000. Why would they worry if only a few would have enough to eat if He could feed the thousands?

Little faith opens us up to the working of God in our lives, but limits Him in the fact that we are too weak to follow Him the whole way. We stop short or shrink back. We allow the circumstances to dictate rather trusting God to guide us through to victory and through to the blessing He intended for us.

I remember in the movie “Cool Running” a picture example of starting well, but stopping when you face the storm. In the movie the group had just flown to Canada. They are proudly walking through the airport following close behind John Candy. Then we see the exit door leading to the outside. John Candy comes walking through alone. The camera pans in to the airport through the exit door and there they are frozen in their tracks. We are often like that. We follow God closely until the climate changes and then we tend to freeze in out tracks.

3. Great faith

Great faith relates to one trusting Jesus and expecting great things from Him. There is no fear, but simple trust that He can do it. The Bible gives us two illustrations using the term “great faith” as proclaimed by Jesus.

The first illustration is found in Matthew 8 where the centurion comes to Jesus seeking help for his servant. He so trust’s in Jesus that he proclaims that Jesus doesn’t have to come to his house. He believes that Jesus need only say the word. Jesus is amazed by such great faith and grants the centurion’s request. He trusted Jesus for healing.

The second illustration is found in Matthew 15:28 where a woman comes to Jesus on behalf of her daughter. She refuses to be silenced by the disciples. Her response to Jesus amazes Him and here too He proclaims that this woman has great faith. He grants her request. She trusted Him for healing.

Summary:

The apostles and other Christians down through the years have exhibited little faith at times and great faith at others. You have probably experienced times when you felt as if you could move mountains and other times doubted that you could face tomorrow. If you looked back on your life I believe two things would be revealed. The strength and weakness will align with how much you were in God’s Word. The second thing leads to tomorrow’s article. What areas in your life did you stand strong and which areas did you shrink back or feel defeated? You are stronger in some areas and weaker in others.

Our faith affects the working of God in our lives. It does not limit His power or authority. It limits His ability to bless us because we stop short of where the blessing was to be received. When Jesus returned to His hometown He was limited in the miracles He could do for them. He was limited because of their lack of faith (Mat. 13:58). He had much more for them, but they were not ready to receive. Their faith kept them from going to where the blessing of God was going to meet their need.

It should be the goal of every believer to grow in the faith. This growth benefits the believer and glorifies God.

Ultimately we cannot judge the depth of faith that another person has. Only God knows for sure the depth of another’s faith. This is not about others. It is about you or, in my case, me.

Lord Bless,

Leonard Traina