Good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened (Hebrews 4:2, esv).
Have there been times when you’ve wondered why, even though you know the promises of God, you don’t seem to experience them with much frequency? You’ve read His Word—you know what He says is in store for you as a believer—but sometimes you don’t feel like someone who actually has it and lives with it. Why? What’s missing for me?
Maybe it’s faith.
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is the power switch that turns on the power Source (the Holy Spirit) who dwells in you through Christ and gives life to your mortal body. It’s not enough simply to know about this power, to understand it intellectually, or to sit in church with other people who have it. You can’t just catch it. You have to turn it on—by faith.
Faith is your part. Faith is the thing you can do.
Jesus was once approached by a pair of blind men, begging for mercy, pleading for their sight. “Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:28–30).
Hear it again: “According to your faith be it done to you.”
What if He made that same statement to you today? How would it apply to your life? Or to your marriage . . . or ministry? If you’re not happy with what you’re seeing, perhaps it’s because of the inadequate amount of faith you’re placing in God to enliven, increase, expand, and embolden it.
Jesus said to the Canaanite woman whose daughter needed life-saving help, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire” (Matthew 15:28). He said to His disciples, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” (Matthew 16:8)—when they’d already seen Him feed whole multitudes from almost no bread at all? Later, when they asked why they’d been ineffective in ministering to someone who was demon-possessed, He said to them, “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” (Matthew 17:20).
That’s the life of a Christian. That’s what’s available to us when we live by faith.
Our world today is rocking under the weight of sin and strife, upheaval and struggle. When God looks on us, He obviously sees the awfulness and tragedy of what’s happening down here. But the Bible says, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8). This is talking about men of faith who are ready to take a mountain for Him; women of faith who are serious about changing the world for Him. Of all the problems we face, could this be the biggest? Where’s our faith?
No one goes anywhere good with God without faith. Faith is what turns the switch on. Your questions may be many, but your answer is short and strong. Turn on the faith, and you’ll begin seeing life with Him in a whole new light.
Journal
Pray
Lord, thank You for rallying me back to faith in You today. Forgive me for making the Christian life so complicated and complex, when You’ve offered me the remedy for all my failure, fear, and frustration. Increase and deepen my faith in You, Lord. Even when nothing seems to be changing, help me to keep believing. I call out to You with faith—in the power of God, and in the name of Jesus, amen.