“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 NIV
There are some things Jesus cannot and will not do for us.
One thing Jesus does not do is increase our faith in some supernatural way.
The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. Another person asked Jesus to help his unbelief.
“A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech…I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not…But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9:17-18, 22-24 NIV
How does faith grow? Not by Jesus’ active intervention! Like the muscles in our bodies, faith grows through exercise… and we exercise faith when we come under pressure. Faith is a foundation truth in us when life carries on smoothly. No need to lean hard on Jesus until…we hit an obstacle in the road or we are called on to act or react to something bigger than ourselves.
Faith can only increase and grow when we put it into practice. Jesus may intervene with circumstances that require us to exercise faith but we must do the believing and trusting ourselves. Jesus cannot do it for us or make us do it. How does this work?
On one occasion, a Roman centurion asked Jesus to heal his paralysed servant. Jesus was on his way to the man’s house when the centurion met him. Protesting his unworthiness, he said something that perfectly illustrated his understanding of the way faith works…and his confidence in Jesus to do what he requested.
“The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
Matthew 8:8-9 NIV
In his desperate need, the centurion leaned his weight on Jesus’ word, “Just say the word…”, and His authority to speak those words. In turn, Jesus praised his “great faith”.
“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”
Matthew 8:10 NIV
This story brings me to the next important fact about faith. Faith must lean its weight on Jesus’ word! This means that we anchor ourselves not only to who He is, the Son of God and Lord, but also to what He has promised. We cannot expect Him to do what He has not promised to do. Why?
Jesus declared that He only spoke and functioned under the authority of the Father.
“For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.”
John 3:34-35 NIV
Jesus’ authority is expressed in His words…therefore, He has authorised us to speak on earth what He, under the authority of the Father, has spoken in heaven. When we obey the “chain of command” that operates in God’s kingdom, God’s will is “done on earth as it is done in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).
Jesus’ words are the creative force we engage when we put our trust in Him in the difficult circumstances of our lives.
This brings me to the third important fact about the way faith grows. Faith grows under pressure. What does the Bible mean by “under pressure”?
Faith under pressure means that we are called to remain steadfast in our reliance on Jesus either when circumstances are out of our control or when we are called to do something or believe something that is bigger than us. Faith can only issue in faithfulness when faith is pressed into action.
Hebrews 11 is the record of people who were faithful in both confidence and obedience when they faced something they were called to do that was beyond their human ability to accomplish. The worst of circumstances, as the writer records of those who suffered terrible things but refused to give up, could not turn them away from their persuasion that something better lay ahead.
“…There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection…These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:35, 39-40 NIV
This kind of faithfulness under pressure is the evidence of faith which has an outcome.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV
This kind of faith, also meaning faithfulness, that does not buckle under pressure, that does what we are called to do, is the evidence of our hope in what is unseen and yet to come. When we fix our sights on what Jesus has promised, we never give up, no matter what happens because, although it is still unseen, it is real since Jesus said it would happen.
This takes faith beyond the material and the now. Unlike those who present faith as the way to get what we want…the “name it and claim it” preachers…faith is about persevering through the “here and now” to Jesus’ ultimate promise.
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13 NIV
So, how do we grow our faith?
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.””
Romans 4:16-18 NIV
Did you get that?
On the strength of what Jesus has promised, we call those things that are not yet as though they already are…
…and we persevere in our determination to lean on Jesus to do what He promised even if we don’t see it happen in our lifetime.
Although our trust in Jesus is also about the little things in everyday life, our faithfulness is ultimately about staying the course no matter what happens because He who has called us is faithful.
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NIV
So, again, the life of faith and faithfulness is a partnership between God and us acting together to achieve God’s goal.
To be continued…