A Willing Faith

If we were to examine our personal lives, and in particular our personal walk with Christ, we would discover that there are some things that we still need to work on. There are some areas of life we still struggle with. There are some actions we’re still trying to let go, and some sins that get the best of us every time.

• I don’t know maybe I’m in the wrong church this morning; maybe this is the congregation that has it all together.

• Perhaps I should sit down and let ya’ll talk to me this morning, because I know that I have several things I need to work on in my walk with Christ.

• I know for a fact that I don’t have it all together. I know there are some actions and some attitudes that I need to leave by the wayside.

Somebody may be saying, “Why he up there preaching if he has things to work on?” Well, the fact that God has called me to preach, teach, and proclaim His Word does not make me perfect.

• The devil gets after me just likes he gets after you. I go through troubles and trials just like you. My physical health has the tendency to fail just like yours, and the last time I check I was still made of flesh.

• Of course God expects His ministers to be an example to others, just like He expects all of His children to be a light to this world, yet we’re all a work in progress.

I said all of this because there is one area in our Christian walk that I believe all of us could improve in, and that’s our faith in God. The bible says that it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed, which if I was holding a mustard seed between my fingers you couldn’t see it no matter how close you were, but it takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.

• In other words, if you possess just that much faith, God can do great things in your life. Although the initial quantity of faith required is that small, many of us still struggle with faith in God.

Faith in Christianity is directed toward Jesus Christ, therefore as Christians we aren’t distinguished by faith, but by the object of our faith, which is Jesus Christ. Faith is essentially an act of trust, reliance or dependence on God.

• So since faith is an act of trust or dependence, it leads to an active life of obedience to the one being trusted.

• Now remember it takes faith the size of a mustard seed for God to work in our lives, but this doesn’t mean God wants our faith to stay that small forever, He expects it to grow and blossom.

• One way you know that your faith is growing is when it is no longer just faith, but it matures into a willing faith.

A willing faith means that you’re eager and ready to trust and believe in God and His promises. A willing faith doesn’t mean you just trust and believe, but that you have joy in doing so.

• A willing faith holds to God’s unchanging hand even when it seems like all hope is gone. A willing faith trust in God, when friends and even family turn their back on you.

• A willing faith gives you strength to pay your tithes when you know that you can use the extra money somewhere else.

• A willing faith!

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A willing faith is what we find in the text, exhibited by Abraham at one of the times in his life when he was tested by God. Abraham wasn’t a perfect man, but he displayed a willing faith on many occasions in his life.

Abraham had a willing faith at the age of 75, when God told him to leave the land of his fathers and move his entire family and possessions to the land of Canaan. Abraham had a willing faith when God promised that his descendants would be uncountable, at an old age and at that time he had no children of his own. Abraham had a willing faith when God told him that his wife Sarah would bare him a child, at a time when she was already way pass childbearing years.

If we are going to live the abundant life promised by Christ, we’re going to need a willing faith. If we’re going to survive in these last days, in a world that has no faith, we’re going need a willing faith. The Hebrew writer says that it’s impossible to please God without faith, in other words if we want God to smile upon the life we live, then we must have faith, and a willing faith makes it all the more enjoyable.