“And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.'” – Luke 17:5
Faith.
That is whole mouthful right there. I could expound about faith for a year and never scratch the surface. The only thing I would really uncover is my ignorance of the depths of the subject.
To my unenlightened brain, the Bible seems so contradictory on the subject. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of the Lord (Romans 10:17). However, faith without works is dead (James 2). According to Romans 12 we are all dealt a measure of faith, but in Mark 4 Jesus accuses the disciples of having no faith. In other places he asks them why they have little faith (Matthew 8:26). In Hebrews 13 we’re admonished to imitate the faith of those who lead us spiritually. In Mark 6, Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of the towns in and around his hometown and it limited His ability to do miracles there. Yet in other places in scripture, Jesus attributes some of the miracles He performed to the individual’s faith (Mark 7:29, Matthew 15:28, Luke 8:43-48)
So obviously, faith plays a major role in our Christian walk. But can faith grow? According to Paul, it can indeed. II Thessalonians 1:3 reads, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you abounds toward each other.” He also writes in II Corinthians 10:14-15, “For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere.” Increasing faith. Exceedingly growing faith. Our faith can certainly grow, but how?
Everything in the natural is modeled after the spiritual. Just as in the natural, for something to grow and increase, it must be fed. Or maybe a better comparison is a muscle. To make a muscle stronger, it must be used and exercised. Our faith is no different. Romans 12:3 reads, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” So we each are given a measure of faith, but what we do with it is up to us.
Naturally, the first and most important way to grow our faith is reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hiding the word of God in our heart and hearing good biblical teaching will increase our faith. That is an automatic. As Christians, we know that the bible is infallible and is God-breathed. As we read earlier, miracles were attributed to the faith of people in scripture. God doesn’t change. Faith still moves Him to action!
God also provides opportunities to develop our faith. We’ve all heard the story of David and Goliath. How was David able to go out there and face someone four times his size? He answered that when talking to King Saul. I Samuel 17:33-36 reads, “And Saul said to David, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.’ But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.’” Would David have been able to have this kind of confident faith had God not sent some smaller tests his way to prepare him? Probably not! These opportunities were faith builders! God will always provide circumstances in which to practice and exercise our faith.
But why do we need enlarged faith?
Much of that comes down to how much we can really believe for while living in this sinful flesh. We see a great example of a recognition of our human limitations and the acknowledgment of being dependent on God in Luke 17. Jesus is speaking in verse 3-4 saying, “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” The disciples IMMEDIATELY answered in verse 5, “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’” It is not in the fallen human condition to forgive the same person repeatedly. Jesus said seven times, but in studying numerology, the number seven is meant to reflect infinity. That’s a hard ask! Our nature doesn’t like forgiving one time, let alone repeatedly (especially if it’s for the same offense!) The apostles realized that they would need help beyond themselves to live this way.
What can seem even more baffling is Jesus discussing that we must receive the kingdom of God like a child. How is it that children can have the kind of faith that we mature believers need to strive for in our relationship with God? Children have no life experiences to dissuade them from pure faith. If they’re told something, they believe it until life tells them otherwise. Oh that we could operate in that kind of faith! God’s word says that we are healed by His stripes. Okay, I believe it and I receive it. Wouldn’t that be amazing? God is indeed saying that is the way it SHOULD work, but unfortunately, the more life we experience, the more we see things that seem to dispute the word of God. Of course nothing REALLY disputes the word of God, but the more we see in life, the more our faith takes a hit. We do have an enemy, and he certainly affects a lot of things on this planet. Our flesh is also constantly at war with us as well. God doesn’t make bad things happen (He is light, and in him is no darkness – I John 1:5), but He does give us free will. He forgives and shows grace and mercy, but He does not remove all consequences of our actions. On the surface, to our veiled understanding, this can look like failure on God’s part. God has never and will never fail. In I Corinthians 13:12 Paul writes, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” We don’t see everything that God sees, and we certainly don’t understand what He understands. That is part of what makes faith what it is. Believing even though not everything is clearly revealed.
So if those following Jesus during His earthly ministry needed an enlarging of their faith, then do you think that we need it? Oh yes! Let’s seek God daily in our time of prayer and devotion and ask for enlarging of our faith!