If I Had Enough Faith

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. ²Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. Hebrew 11:1-2 (NLT)

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the comment, “I wish I had more faith” or “I am praying for more faith,” … I would be a wealthy woman. I have men and women sit in my office and talk about “just needing more faith” as though it were something that they could muster up within themselves or possibly find if they searched hard enough. If I were to be honest, I would have to tell you that I have made many of the same statements. I have sat in places of fear and depression. I have watched in horror and gut wrenching agony as every thing I thought I believed in seemed to be falling down around me. I have listened as people quoted verses to me that seemed to be only hollow words. Where was my faith then? What is faith?

As we look through scripture we see places where Jesus says that people are healed because of their faith (Mark 10:52; Luke 8:48; Luke 17:19; Luke 18:42), saved because of their faith (Luke 7:50; Luke 5:20; Mark 2:5), unable to do miracles because of a lack of faith (Matt 13:58), and able to move trees into the sea and mountains to new places if they have the faith of a small mustard seed

(Luke 17:6; Matt 17:20). We see in Hebrews 11 a whole chapter dedicated to people who did seemingly impossible things “by faith.”

As I have spent time in the Word, in study and prayer this week, the Lord has orchestrated my reading (from several completely different places) around this idea of faith. God taught me two very important and illuminating lessons about faith.

1) Faith is not an emotion like peace, happiness, and excitement.

We cannot muster up “faith” or hope that one day we might “feel more faith” so that we can do great things for God… or, in my case many times,… handle the life situations that seem to pull the rug out from underneath me. Faith usually requires us to act despite our emotions. Most of the time we are feeling intense pain, fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, hopelessness and in the midst of these overwhelming feelings we are told to act and think in ways that are contrary to our feelings. We are told “we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength” (Phil 4:8); “we can move mountains from here to there” (Luke 17:6); “we can move trees into the sea” (Matt 17:20); and even do the things we read that Jesus did and more (John 14:12). Faith can better be understood as a muscle. We are born with muscles all over our bodies. From the moment of formation, our muscles only grow stronger through use. If unused they grow week and even begin to deteriorate with age. In the same way I believe faith is given to our spirit and soul at the time of salvation. If we choose to use it, faith will become stronger. If we choose not to, our faith weakens. This leads me to the next lesson.

2) Faith is better understood as a verb…Faithing.

My husband preached a sermon on faith one Sunday and said that the English language does not have a very good word for the Greek word for faith. If we were to read the word “faith” through the eyes of a first century Christian, we would read the word as a verb. The word denotes the idea that we are moving towards what we know in our heads is suppose to be true even when we do not feel it to be true.

As I began to meditate on these ideas, the Holy Spirit brought to mind Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Word of God is Truth. It is this Truth that we are given to guide our lives. It is this Truth that we are to move towards even when our emotions are screaming at us to stay where we are or even worse…turn and run the other way.

I had already begun to grow excited about what the Lord was showing me, but as I meditated on how this verse in Romans fit in, I began to have trouble sitting in my seat. I began to realize that God is not asking us to the impossible. (Granted it feels impossible, but our feelings do not have the best track record for leading us in the right direction.) All God is asking us to do is turn toward truth and move a little toward that truth. We do not have to feel that the Truth is true. We do not have to run and throw ourselves in the direction of Truth. We do not even have to take the first few steps in confidence. We just have to begin moving in that direction. Scripture suggests that even the smallest steps begin to increase the strength of our faith muscle. The more steps we take the more confident we become in our steps and the stronger our faith becomes.

Ladies, what Truth are you struggling to faith? What step is the Holy Spirit illuminating in your life for you to take? What emotions are you choosing to believe over the Truth of God’s Word?

Remember… God can move mountains with a step as small as this period.

Post your comments or meet me in the forum for a safe, private conversation on “Faithing it.”

Faithing it,

Dr. A

Dr. Ashley is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed professional counseling in the state of Louisiana. She has been counseling for over 12 years and currently serves as the Clinical Director of Restoration Counseling, a Christian counseling practice in New Orleans, LA. Ashley is also adjunct professor for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She has previously taught for North Greenville University and Liberty University.Dr. B and her husband, Dr. Page Brooks, have been married almost eleven years. They have 2 daughters, Karis (5 years old) and Alethia (3 years old).