Got Faith?
By Laura Bagby

Faith: all that's needed is the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.

Faith: all that's needed is the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. But what if you don't have a mustard seed worth of faith? What if your speck is so small it's microscopic? Been there?

I have.

Many a day I have walked trembling in fear -- and not in the fear of the Lord, either. Nope. I am talking anxious, unnerving, finger-biting fear. The Goliaths of the world are huge, my debts are burgeoning, and I don't have the answers when I am supposed to. It's a scary place.

Why don't I have the faith to believe that God is what He says He is and that He is going to do all that He says He will do? I have asked the Lord many times. Well, here is, I think, the answer.

I ran across this Scripture recently and I think it's telling of the condition a lot of us Christians get ourselves into, and it has to do with reading our Bibles.

If you are like me, prayer is easy. I always have something to say to God, even if it ends up phrased more as complaints dripping with self-righteousness than in true holy submission.

But Bible-reading, well, sometimes it seems so laborious, dry. And if you are like me, you might walk away thinking, "What did I really learn from that passage? Is this really all that important? Can't I just listen to a sermon?"

But little by little, reading that word, that passage, that chapter in Scripture is the means to filling up your faith tank. How do I know this? In the Bible, in Romans 10:17, it says, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (NIV). The word of Christ referred to is obviously the Bible. Read the Word, my friend, and you will gain faith. See, it's easy!

But how does this happen? Is it something magical?

No. It's personal; it's relational.

God doesn't swoop down upon you as you read the Scriptures and go POOF! and then you are automatically tanked up with a full measure of faith.

No it builds -- sometimes gradually, and sometimes in spurts.

It's just like building a friendship. Why do you trust some friends more than others? You know that they are trustworthy, right? And how do you know they are trustworthy? You spend enough time with them that you know they are who they say that they are.

The same goes for Jesus. If you don't have faith, you need to know your Lord and Savior better.

Pull out that Bible and pray that God will reveal Himself to you and trust that He is doing just that. You aren't necessarily going to feel anything. That's OK. But one day, when the enemy attacks, you will have God's words on your lips, and you will have faith to meet that devil head-on.

Get the Word. And get moving!

cbn