“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) Amen!
Mark 9:19-29 (<<click to read the passage)
Faith. Some feel their faith is weak. Others are seen as having great faith. But it seems like, for the most part, we all could use more faith.
Here’s the thought from my Life Application Study Bible that got me to thinking:
“The attitude of trust and confidence that the Bible calls belief or faith (Hebrews 11:1,6) is not something we can obtain without help. Faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8,9). No matter how much faith we have, we never reach the point of being self-sufficient. Faith is not stored away like money in the bank. Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus.”
From that, my mind flew to manna! You know the main source of sustenance for the Israelites as they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. Each day they would find this stuff – manna literally means “What is it?” – on the ground with the morning dew. They could use it to make all kinds of things. Raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey (Exodus 16:31). But most often it was ground to make cakes. But the point is they could only collect enough for themselves or their families for one…single…day. Those that tried to save leftovers for breakfast the next day ended up with manna that was “full of maggots and had a terrible smell” (Exodus 16:20).
Now it’s just not possible to use extra faith the next day because, first of all, it just doesn’t work that way. Faith is a gift from God that we receive as we need it. You simply cannot hoard it – it has to be used! The more we place our trust and confidence in Jesus the greater our awareness that He has us covered, regardless of our need.
In Matthew’s rendition of this same incident, he concludes with Jesus saying,
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:14-20 (NLT)
The Amplified Bible expounds upon their lack of faith by saying it is their “lack of trust and confidence in the power of God”.
Lord Jesus, I know the supply of faith is immeasurable but, as You well know, it is my lack of ability to tap into it that is the problem. Train me, guide me, so that when whatever comes before me – great or small – that I will be able to experience that “nothing would be impossible” kind of faith! Amen!
May 16th, 2019, Thurs, 11:47 am