You of Little Faith
As I amble around campus, thoughts and questions race through my mind. What am I eating for lunch? When is my next homework due? But, there’s always one question that causes me to stop and consider. Do I have faith in God? Faith is to trust in God, but can I count on God for everything—my livelihood, my future, my health? Can God really take care of all these things? These kinds of questions compel me to step back from the busyness of my life and ponder on things unseen.
The Origin of Faith
Where does faith actually come from? If faith came from ourselves, our faith would fluctuate day and night. One moment, we could be soaring in the heavens, transcending over all our problems, believing that all things are possible with God. However, within a couple of hours, we could be loathing our situation. Faith needs to be held up by something solid, something that doesn’t waver. Thus, faith does not originate from ourselves, but from God (Eph. 2:8). Faith doesn’t come from something within. It is a trust that derives by relying on someone reliable, trustworthy, and honest. So when we say we don’t have faith in God, it’s not because we have little faith or the absence of faith. Rather, it’s because we don’t think that God is trustworthy. If He is honest and trustworthy, why do we not put our trust in Him? If we would learn to trust our God, our faith will spontaneously grow. We would then come to know that He can provide all things for us when we trust in Him (Matt. 6:33).
Living by Faith
Our Christian life is full of ups and downs. Some days we are ecstatic and our fellowship with God has been sweet and enjoyable. When we read the Bible, the words become spirit and life (John 6:63). Every day it feels like we are filled with God. It seems as if we are on the mountaintop, where there is nothing between us and God. But other days, we may feel dry. Our morning time to contact and fellowship with God becomes a routine. The Bible becomes only just black and white letters to us. Our prayer is forced. It may feel like the joyful times are the peak of our spiritual experiences and enjoyment. And during our dry times, it may feel like we are on a spiritual decline.
However, this is not the case. Our Christian life does not fluctuate, because our God does not fluctuate. God’s desire in these times is that we would pursue after Him, regardless of our feeling. He allows us to be dry to see if we would use our own strength and will to continue to grow in the Lord. Although it may not seem that we are growing, in our period of dryness we are advancing deeper into the Lord. God eventually wants us to live a life where joy and dryness do not control our fellowship with Him. Our Christian life must not be based on emotions, but on faith. If we would live by faith, we would rely on nothing of our emotions. Instead our life would remain joyful regardless of our situation.
Walking on Water
In Matthew 14, with Peter, we see an example of faith. As the disciples are crossing the sea, they see Jesus walking on the waters. In verse 28, Peter tells the Lord, “If it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” When the Lord said, “Come,” Peter “started walking on the water, and came to Jesus” (v. 29). However, when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened and began to sink. Immediately, the faith he had in Jesus vanished. Instead of trusting and looking to the Lord, Peter’s eyes began to wander and began examining the environment around him. Jesus said to Peter, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31). We are always living a life that is governed by our emotions and our environment. As soon as we analyze our situation and our environment, we begin to doubt Him. If we put our trust in God, nothing—no strong wind, negative environment, personal failure, stressful situation—nothing can affect us. God wants us to enter into this kind of life, a life where we put all our trust in Him.
In our Christian life, we find ourselves constantly being influenced by our feelings. Our environment and our emotions change all the time, but our God whom we trust never changes.
In order for us to grow in the Lord, we need to get past these feelings and learn to put all our trust in God. The solidity, the foundation of our Christian pursuit, has to be our unchanging God. As Paul says: “Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
By: A. Zhang
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Amen!
God is faithful (as the last sentence states) and He has allotted precious faith to us (2 Peter 1:1). Thank Him!
I admit that I’m just like Peter. I have faith in the Lord, but when the waves start rolling and the wind is contrary, I forget about the Lord and look at the wind and waves. I want to enter into the kind of life where I put all my trust in Him.