Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us this Sunday! In-Person 9:00am & 10:45am, Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

Join us at the next Sunday worship service:
In-Person
9:00am & 10:45am,
Online 9:00am, 10:45am & 5:00pm

I Find My Lack of Faith Disturbing

“And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’ – Mark.11:22-24.

The title of this devotional is a subtle play on the line uttered by Darth Vader in Star Wars: A New Hope where he force-chokes a fellow Imperial officer when the officer insults the Force and Vader. Vader chokes him from afar and says “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

I am constantly reminded in this life of the necessity of faith. Faith has a tendency to fall to the background when everything is going well and things are falling into place. But then there is a bumpy patch in the road and faith is elevated to the forefront. The Bible speaks constantly to faith and how important it is to place your faith in God and His plan. In Matthew 8:2-3, Jesus acts in response to the Leper’s faith. In Matthew 8:10-13, Jesus comments on the Centurion’s faith. In Matthew 8:26, Jesus calls out his disciple’s lack of faith during the storm. And in Matthew 9:29, Jesus healed the blind. “Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”

And in a few chapters earlier in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34) Regardless of our circumstances, we are called to trust God and walk by faith for today. Let tomorrow worry about itself. God knows where we are and more importantly what is best for us.

God has given every person a measure of faith to work with, and what we do to increase it, is entirely up to us. It is important that we grow our faith. Obviously faith is measurable, for the Bible makes many references to its measure: much faith, little faith, great faith, weak faith, and strong faith are among them. There are two things we must do to grow our faith. We have to feed it on the word of God and we have to exercise it.

“But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) Gods word will build assurance, confidence and faith in your life.  But you must also exercise your faith. If you plan to move mountains, you are going to need to develop a strong faith, and that means exercising the faith you already have. Remember, you have to start where you are. Even a journey of ten thousand miles begins with the first step. 

Our actions and our circumstances do not effect the faithfulness of God. Fortunately, God is faithful in our weakness. We need to remember to look at our life through the lens of the faithfulness of Christ. Because the more you look for God’s faithfulness in every circumstance and see it manifest itself, time and time again, the more it builds our faith. So instead of dwelling on our circumstances, lets dwell on His faithfulness and who He is. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How would you define faith?
  2. What’s wrong with having faith without deeds?
  3. In Colossians 1:9-14, Paul said that he prayed that the Colossians Christians “be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” What will result from having such wisdom and understanding?
  4. In what specific area in your life right now can you exercise more faith in our Lord?

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