Little Faith, Big Building

***My husband wrote this article on faith. I thought it was appropriate to share it on our blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If faith can move a mountain, it can certainly build a sanctuary.***

What type of faith do we have? A casual one: if it works out then it is great, if not, then it wasn’t that big of a deal. Working faith: we have faith it will happen, but we are going to start working on it ourselves just in case God doesn’t do it. If we believe that God will provide the means necessary, which is more a display of faith; working to provide those means ourselves, or working to use those means the best possible way?

This reminds me of Matthew 15:32-38. Jesus tells his disciples that He is going to feed the multitude. They immediately asked where they could possibly find that much bread in the wilderness. Automatically, they thought that they had to help Jesus do something He said He was going to do.

That is us so many times. We immediately say, “How am I going to get this done” after God has said he will take care of us. “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:29-32)

I think our faith is small many times because we do not want to take the chance that God will not come through. We want a backup plan. We have that doubt that it might not work out, so we try to help get it done. This is contrary to having faith. True faith lets us begin the second phase. We can start acting on the result, knowing it is on the way. Remember the ten lepers that asked Jesus for mercy in Luke 17:12-19. As soon as Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest they took off. They didn’t wait to see the healing, they believed it was going to happen. The Bible says, “as they went, they were cleansed.” This is a remarkable example of expecting with faith. They sincerely embraced that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) They acted on the result before they witnessed it. Can we step out with this kind of faith? Can we truly begin as Peter did; stepping out of that boat onto water knowing that it just doesn’t make any sense? Can we stop ourselves from trying to complete what we have entrusted to God?

No opinion on faith can be complete without using the scripture about how little faith you need. “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:19-21) This seems to make it pretty easy to use faith until you read the end part. Fasting!! That is pretty difficult to do. I need those calories every day. But it is very clear to attain the faith needed to move mountains we must sacrifice ourselves in prayer and fasting. Have we done this lately?

As we approach the end of our building project we have given time and money until it seems we do not have anymore. Our financial situation is now near desperate and we are not sure how it is going to get done. Now is the time we can say, “God, I can’t do anything else. It is up to You.” We cannot have the casual faith, because this has to be done. We cannot have the working faith, because we are unable to complete it ourselves. We have to have faith the size of a mustard seed! Have we prayed, fasted, and had faith that God will supply the money and resources for our new building? If so, we have to prepare for the people who will show up at our door. If haven’t, then we need to take care of that, so we can prepare to use His blessings accordingly.

Written By James Wiley