A Little Faith

In Mark 9, immediately following the account of the Transfiguration, Jesus interacts with a man whose son is suffering seizures because of a demon. The man implores, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus sounds a wee bit miffed when He responds, “‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” The man’s response is one I have often prayed, “I believe; help my unbelief!” In Matthew’s account of the incident, when the disciples ask Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon, His response is “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matt. 17:20 see also 21:21).

This wasn’t the first time the disciples had their lack of faith pointed out by Jesus. There are four prior times mentioned in Scripture:

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matt. 6:30).

In the storm on the sea, “He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm” (Matt. 8:26).

Peter tried walking on water, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:30-31).

After Jesus fed the multitude, and the disciples wondered why Jesus was talking about leaven, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember…?” (Matt. 16:8-9).

Here were twelve men who walked with Jesus and listened to His teaching every day for three years straight, and yet He kept mentioning their “little” faith. That encourages me because we’re in good company! We probably all fit in that category most of the time. (I have yet to hear of someone moving a mountain with their mustard seed-sized faith.) Even though we know God is fully capable of doing anything He wants, we don’t always believe that He will, and we often don’t even bother to ask Him to do so.

There have been many times I’ve wished and prayed for stronger faith, but even that is a little scary because, as James wrote, “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (1:3). I’d rather have the faith without any testing if possible, but that isn’t God’s normal method of working. Who needs faith when things are going smoothly? It’s in the midst of the storms and questions that we have to decide if we trust that God is good, in control, and fully aware of our circumstances.

It’s not so much the size of our faith that matters, but the One in whom it is placed. God is perfectly willing to work with people who have faith the size of a grain of sand, so long as we keep turning to Him as often as we need to.

“Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Degrees of Faith

Reading through Matthew chapters 8-9 this week I was struck by the varying degrees of faith expressed by the people who encountered Jesus. The leper says, “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean” (8:2 ESV). The centurion's request is “only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (8;8). The disciples are rebuked by Jesus, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (8:26). The friends of the paralytic expressed their faith by bringing him to Jesus (9:2). The bleeding woman was told, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (9:22). The crowd in the home of the girl who had died laughed at Jesus (9:24). The blind men were healed after bring told, “According to your faith be it done to you” (9:29). And then there were the Pharisees who said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons” (9:34).

I’m not sure where I would fall on the spectrum of faith. I would like to be like the centurion and pray “Just say the word,” but that’s probably rare. Sometimes I might take the risk to reach out and touch Him. But if I’m honest, most of the time I’m probably like the disciples and He’s asking “Why are you so afraid?”

The amazing thing in these chapters is that everyone besides the Pharisees received what they needed. It didn’t matter whether their faith was great or small. That is encouraging news for those of us whose faith is weak. No doubt each of these people had stronger faith after meeting Jesus than they had before. Their diseases and dangers were the tools God used to strengthen their faith. As James wrote,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Most of us want the results without the tests. We want strong faith without going through the trials. But God doesn’t generally work that way. We actually can’t know how strong our faith is until it is tested and proved. We may know the Bible and believe every word, and yet still struggle with trusting God when challenges arise. The good news is that even faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). From this verse we can also find comfort in the fact that the men who walked with Jesus and watched Him perform many miracles still struggled with “little faith.” You would think that they would have been His star pupils, but they failed too. Though it isn’t written, I wonder if Jesus was implying “If your faith had been in Me instead of in your own abilities, you could have cast out that demon.”

Moving into a new year, I want to pray “Lord, increase my faith” as the apostles did in Luke 17:5. I have to trust that the trials that strengthen faith will be moderated by the grace and mercy of God. He knows best what is needed, and He’ll never give me more than He can handle. Whether I can handle it or not is a moot point when God is in control.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is refined by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Never Alone

A couple weeks ago I was watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the millionth time. One particular quote often catches my attention. When Harry is feeling alone in his fight against the enemy, Voldemort, Luna Lovegood tells him, “I suppose that’s how he wants you to feel... If I were You-know-who, I’d want you to feel cut off from everyone else. ‘Cause if it’s just you alone, you’re not as much of a threat.”

I can identify with that feeling. One of our enemy’s primary tools is to make us believe we’re alone in the fight for truth, good, and holiness. The “roaring lion” looks for the weak and isolated members to pick off (1 Peter 5:8). The Apostle Paul also reminded his readers that separation creates opportunity for sin:

“…We are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:25-27).

“Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:5).

I recently read All the Places to Go, by John Ortberg, and something he said made a lot of sense. Sometimes when we make a big decision, we suffer from “buyers regret.” The reason for this is that we start to compare all the negative features of what we chose with all the positive features of what we did not choose. This doesn’t just apply to purchases, but to schools, marriage, career, etc. And it occurred to me that it also applies to our self-perception. We know our own sin and weakness all too well and we often start comparing our worst features with what little we can see of the people around us. Pretty soon we’re thinking “Everybody else seems to have it all together, so I must be the one who’s really messed up!” We’ve created our own sense of isolation, and the enemy capitalizes on it to bring us even further down. (Check out Elijah in 1 Kings 19.)

Comparing ourselves with others is never a good thing. It will only lead to pride or shame, depending on who we’re looking at. “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding… For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:12, 18). And the fact is that God commends His children even when they do screw up, because His love and grace are greater than our sin. His love never changes. We may think we have cut ourselves off, but He’s just waiting for us to look up and see Him still standing there. Christians are really never alone, no matter what we may think or feel. Ideally, we should know the loving support of being in frequent communion with our fellow believers. But even if everyone else fails us, judges us, turns away, or persecutes us, the Father is still on our side.

Mark Gignilliat wrote in Christianity Today:

“We face trials and temptations of all sorts, and God uses them to test our faith. No one knew this to be true more than Jesus. And no one invites us into the joyous dangers of faith more graciously than him, either. We don’t wrestle alone. He is with us, and countless faithful believers have gone before us… The life of faith is one of continual wrestling, where our faith butts up against the troubles of our experience and the sovereign God who controls all things. But the work of Christ, True Israel, assures us that we never wrestle alone or in vain. We may get injured in the ring, but our wounds—like Jacob’s thrown hip—will never become fatal to faith’s final security. God won’t allow it.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december/when-god-hits-below-belt.html 

© 2015 Dawn Rutan.

Testing Wisdom

I’ve been thinking about Sunday’s sermon from 1 Corinthians 2 on the wisdom that comes from God, and at the same time the first chapter of James has been on my mind as I’ve been reading Warren Wiersbe’s study of James in Be Mature. The first few verses of James contain the reminder to find joy in trials because “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” and when steadfastness is accomplished “you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (ESV). The first thing I would note is that testing does not necessarily lead to perseverance or maturity of faith. Wiersbe comments, “If we try to go through trials without surrendered wills, we will end up more like immature children than mature adults” (p. 36). Fighting against trials or questioning God’s goodness in trials will keep us from benefitting from them.

James goes on in verses 5-8 to talk about wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…”  I’ve heard sermons and read books that focus on these verses, but I’ve never heard anyone tie them back to verses 2-4. James just got through saying that the testing of faith when completed makes you “lacking in nothing,” and now he’s talking about lacking wisdom. So those who are lacking wisdom have not completed the process of enduring trials of faith. The flip side of that coin seems to be that asking for wisdom is tantamount to asking for the testing of faith. James says that wisdom comes to those who ask in faith and faith is matured by testing. Be careful what you ask for!

That’s not to say that God never gives wisdom without trials. King Solomon asked for and received wisdom (1 Kings 3), but he didn’t always do what he knew to be right (1 Kings 11). In general though, wisdom is obtained through experience, and I think most would agree that we learn more through difficulties than through ease and comfort. There is a reason that we associate wisdom with old age, because those who have lived many years have experienced a wide variety of challenges and have learned from them. Some of the wise men in the Bible include Daniel and Joseph, and they certainly encountered great difficulties in their lives. We don’t really need wisdom if everything in life is going smoothly.

Wiersbe makes a good point:

“Why do we need wisdom when we are going through trials? Why not ask for strength, or grace, or even deliverance? For this reason: We need wisdom so we will not waste the opportunities God is giving us to mature. Wisdom helps us understand how to use these circumstances for our good and God’s glory” (p. 38).

Justin Nash also commented on this in our office chapel service this week— James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,” and God’s gifts include any trials He allows us to encounter in order to mature our faith. If God makes all things work together for good (Romans 8:28), then trials are a good gift. Wiersbe puts it this way:

“God gives only good gifts. Everything good in this world comes from God. If it did not come from God, it is not good. If it comes from God, it must be good, even if we do not see the goodness in it immediately” (p. 50).

In some ways it is discouraging to realize that wisdom comes with testing. I think we’d all like to have the right answer for every question without any effort. But that is not how God usually works. He loves us too much to let us remain immature in our faith, which should be an encouragement to us.

When we do encounter trials and need wisdom to get through them, we shouldn’t expect to have the whole map laid out before us. That would negate the need for maturing faith, which is the purpose of the trials to begin with. I know how frustrating it is when God lets the trials continue without explanation or deliverance, and it seems like wisdom ought to reveal why that’s in God’s plan. He has yet to reveal specific details like that to me, but He is showing me the bigger picture of how He works in His people.

As was said Sunday, the first step of wisdom is knowing that it’s about God. He’s not necessarily interested in giving us the perfect words to speak in a particular situation, but He does want us to know who He is and how He works. He wants us to know His character, and He is at work conforming us to the image of Christ so we will better reflect His character. That means we need to learn about forgiving others, having compassion, being gracious and merciful, etc. Those characteristics come through the wisdom developed by experiencing difficult situations, because none of us are born knowing how to love others perfectly.

This all seems to be part of a larger, ongoing lesson of God’s plan for each of His children, so this blog may be continued at some point.

“He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will board all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).