Faith…

It can be too easy sometimes to get lost in the outcomes of our faith that we can miss what faith is all about. We are looking to move mountains but missing the point of faith. We look to what we receive by faith, sometimes even what we think by faith we should receive, instead of looking to the one through whom we receive faith and all its benefits.

I have been challenged by a friend recently to think about my faith. Am I limiting my faith by the way I think? Have I got the idea of faith wrong? Am I missing out on good things because of my lack of faith?

I think I have recently discovered that the answer to these questions is yes but not for the reasons I might have originally thought. I have been reading through Matthew’s gospel and over the last few days I’ve been noticing the times that Jesus rebukes people for their lack of faith. I have been wrestling with this idea of faith and lack of faith and it occurred to me tonight as I read Matthew 16 and 17, particularly 17:14-22, that a lack of faith is due to a focus on the outcomes of faith instead of on the person in whom we have faith. In this passage a man comes to Jesus begging him to heal his son who was possessed by a demon because Jesus’ disciples were unable to. When the disciples asked why they couldn’t heal the boy Jesus’ answer was, “Because you have so little faith.”

The disciples’ problem wasn’t to do with the outcome, exorcising the demon, but to do with their faith in Jesus. They didn’t understand that Jesus was the Son of God who was to conquer the Prince of Demons.

You see it again in 16:5-12, the disciples were thinking about outcomes, bread in this case, and missed that Jesus is the provider of all their needs. This is also why Peter, who was walking on water started to sink, because he took his eyes off Jesus and began looking at the outcome of his faith (Matt 14:22-33).

Faith is not about the outcomes but the one in whom we put our faith, Jesus Christ. When we focus squarely on him, the outcomes seem to pale in comparison, yet they flow freely at the same time! We are truly blessed abundantly when we stop looking at the outcomes of our faith and look to Jesus. Get the focus right… don’t look to the outcomes on the periphery when you can look squarely at the source, Jesus Christ himself!

When we fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith, when we seek first his kingdom and stop worrying about the results, the blessings will overflow and our burdens will be much lighter!

I will get back to the singleness issue very soon… I promise!