Be One of Great Faith

The room was still with that kind of silence you can feel. Only the occasional creak of the house interrupted its presence. I rubbed my hands along the lines in the carpet, from where I had pushed the vacuum cleaner around earlier that day. I leaned up against my chair, dropped my head back, and let out a sigh. The fast was coming to a close, and I desperately wanted a breakthrough. Every part of my body felt like God was calling me to teach beyond my church, but I needed confirmation. I needed to know in my knower God was in the midst of these thoughts.

So much doubt, confusion, and questions… the how, why, where? Nothing seemed very clear. I wanted to follow where He was leading; I just didn’t know exactly where that was. I moved forward toward the ground and buried my face in the carpet and prayed “Lord give me faith like Abraham.” but I had no real understanding of what I was asking for — I just knew I meant every word of it.

To be totally honest, I really thought that when I asked for it, God would drop a faith bomb in my spirit like a bath bomb in my tub. Walah! You’re filled with great faith! Yeah, that’s not quite how it works.

How Is It Made?

We don’t get great faith we grow into great faith. Through every testing and trial we endure, our faith grows as our trust in God’s reliability grows. His character revealed in the hard places and the tender moments where we’re raw and real before Him. It’s in those times — even when we don’t sense Him, He is closer than a brother. More compassionate than a mother, more attentive than a lover, and He’s more protective than a father. He is FAITHFUL even when we’re faithless.

I won’t lie, I want the faith without the test. I want the mountaintop without the climb, and I want to soar without having to leap. But that’s just not how it works now, is it? Friend, I bet you know that too. I bet you’ve experienced the “I want to live with great faith” and then found yourself in the middle of the climb screaming out — I can’t take one more step! It’s ok; it’s not that you don’t have great faith, it’s that your faith muscle is being built and it’s hard!

What Does It Look Like?

Abraham wasn’t a man of great faith because he never got weak, never doubted, never feared. No, he was a man of great faith because he kept showing up.  Moment after moment, disappointment after disappointment, He held on to the promise of God and believed even when there was nothing there to believe in. That beloved is great faith — believing even when we don’t see it.

Dear friend, faith grows in the seasons where everything in us says quit, but God says it’s ok to keep going — you are built for this. Stay the course. The promise is coming, and great faith is our reward.

Your friend in faith,

PS… Perhaps your in a climb questioning whether or not you can take another step. Friend, I get that I am there, too. Leave me a message and let me pray for you. And will you pray for me also?