Theme: O you of little faith
Text: Gen. 37:12-28; Rom. 10:5-15; Matt. 14:22-33
The gospel has within it the faith we need to believe. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Rom. 10:17. The Word of God imparts faith to the hearers so that they can believe the gospel and be saved by His grace “For by grace we have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). We cannot boast of our salvation because we did not do anything to deserve it. We receive it by faith. Faith is a gift that can be likened to a very precious diamond in a beautiful box. Many people open the box to see its content and then close the box and keep it closed. God gives us faith to lead us to salvation and to a successful Christian life. Unfortunately many people close the box after salvation and end up admiring the box rather than making use of the diamond to take care of their needs.
Faith is one of the foundations of the Christian life as our salvation is by faith “For by grace we have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8). Faith is so important that the Bible itself defines it. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith gives us access to the righteousness of Christ. Faith believes the Word of God that “if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation”. (Rom. 10:9-10) Salvation results from believing that “whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved”. (Rom 10:13) Faith does not only believe in salvation but in every promise of God. Why is it so easy to believe that Christ has saved us and so difficult to believe that Christ can take care of us?
Every unbeliever is given the gift of faith that leads to salvation. However, they stop to exercise faith after salvation because of the wrong understanding that salvation is the end of the journey. Salvation is rather the beginning of the journey of faith. Salvation assures us of a new life as children of God who have been made righteous through the death of Jesus Christ. As God’s children we have a heavenly Father who has promised to take care of all our needs and we access His grace by faith. Faith believes the promises of God. Faith believes God is with us in the storms of life and that His presence is our victory.
Faith believes and it is established. Unbelief hinders faith and in the words of Christ little faith is the result of doubt. Little faith must be little indeed “Because 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”. (Matt. 17:20) Little faith is so little that it can only believe what it sees. You do not need faith to believe what you can see. For a person of faith ‘believing is seeing’ and for a person of little faith ‘seeing is believing’. You see your condition in the midst of the storms and you end up drowning. Little faith is selective and decides which one of God’s promises to believe. Selective faith in the promises of God is to doubt that God who made the promises is not capable of fulfilling what He has promised.
The Christian experience is from start to finish is a journey of faith. Through faith we come into possession of a new life and through it we walk in this new life. But today many Christians would rather believe the advertisements they see or hear about than believe what the Word of God declares. It really appears that we are prepared to believe anything but the Word of God. If, for example, your boss were to promise you a raise in salary, you would believe him and not question it and go home rejoicing. So why do we question what God says? God promised Joseph that he would someday be great and that his brothers would bow down to him. Sixteen years later he finds himself in a prison and no closer to the dream. Did Joseph ever doubt God’s Word? No. He trusted God and the suffering he went through served to build up his character and patience. When God delays it is because He is working in our lives to reveal who we are or to reveal who He is. Jesus waited for His disciples to encounter the storm and be in it before going to them. Through it they were reminded that they too had needs and that they too had fears and doubts, and that they too needed to live by faith. Where do you find yourself today? What are you doing sitting in the boat when the storms of life are threatening to destroy you? Believe in Christ and have the God kind of faith.
The God kind of faith believes in the love of God. It believes that God loves you so much that He will fulfil His purposes for your life no matter the storms and challenges in your life. The God kind of faith believes that God is concerned about everything that happens to you. He is your heavenly Father and as a loving Father will protect and take care of you. The God kind of faith believes that all the promises of God will be fulfilled.
A Christian life is a life of faith. By faith Peter walked on water during a storm. Doubt counteracted his faith and he began to sink. In asking Peter why he doubted, Jesus was asking what possible reason he had to question what he had accepted as true a moment earlier. Peter began his walk toward Jesus in faith only to allow doubt to interrupt his journey. Believers often go through the experience of Peter. They begin the Christian journey in faith and then allow fear and doubt to counteract their faith. They have faith in the Word of God that “with His stripes we have been healed” till they begin to feel unwell. They then begin to doubt God’s resources and doubt always counteracts faith. Faith focuses on the promises of God leaving no room for doubt and paying no attention to prevailing circumstances. Faith simply believes “that He is able to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. Are we living by faith or are we questioning the reality of the Word of God in our lives? Only the God kind of faith can overcome the storms in our lives.
There is nobody in the world that will not face a storm during his or her life. These storms are often directed at our families, our health, our kids, our job, or at our finances. The effects of the storm however, depend on how prepared we are to deal with them. We cannot deal with the storms of life by ourselves. We need the help of the One who overcame all storms, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The presence of Christ not only stills the storms of life it brings peace. This does not mean that we will no longer face any problems. The truth is that the presence of Christ will make Satan more determined to create storms that seek to make us doubt, distract and destroy us. But Christ will take care of us and give us peace even during the storms. He will even use those storms to serve His purpose and for our spiritual growth. Christ used the storm that the disciples faced to get Peter to let go of what he believed offered him security. Christ wanted Peter to leave the boat and put his trust in Him. Christ wants each one of us to leave what we have considered as being our security and put our trust in Him. What is your security in life? Only Jesus Christ can offer us true security not only in this life but also in the life to come. Let us be sure that we have eternal life that assures us of true security. Let us live a life of faith to the praise and glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!
