The Struggle of Faith

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"  He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:19-21

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

After the disciples failed attempt to drive a demon out of a young boy suffering from seizures, they came to Jesus to ask why.  His answer, "you have little faith."

How is your faith?  Are you finding success and victory in accomplishing the tasks God is calling you into?  Are you enduring the tests God brings your way? 

My wife Robin, and I,  pray together each night.  A couple of months back I prayed a prayer that brought concern to her.  In my prayer I asked God to increase my faith.  The look she gave me at the conclusion of our prayer, made me realize one thing.  I had just prayed a dangerous prayer!  "Do you realize what you just prayed?" she quipped.

My prayer was heart felt and sincere.  God is now answering.

Since that time, we have been tested as individuals and as a couple like never before.  It has been a struggle and a challenge. Through it we have realized the need to rely more on our Savior than ever before.  It has been a season of discovery. A time of realizing the amount of faith I have, and in what, and in whom, I have placed it.  It is growing, but is not yet where it should be.

Have you ever seen a mustard seed?  They are very small!  To be able to see the mountains and the the mulberry trees in life moved with a faith no larger than the size of a mustard seed, is to me both incredible, and convicting.  We all have our own mountains we face.  There are many staring down at me this very moment.  I am confident they will be moved.

To walk by faith is not easy, yet as we do, there is a peace that comes from God that cannot be achieved or experienced any other way.  I often find myself in moments of anxiousness.  As I release that anxiousness to God, and realize that He is in in control, the peace comes flooding in.  It is in those times, that the mountains move.

There are days in which I wish I had not prayed that prayer that night, yet I am glad I did.  It is in the stretching times that our story is written.  A story worth telling, so that others might be brought into God's story of living in and by faith.

How is your faith?