20 “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.” (Matt. 17: 20-21)
Faith. What is it?
There are many types of faith in the scriptures besides the gift of faith. Let’s begin with the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV)
Faith, in its simplest terms, is knowing that what we believe will happen will come to pass even though we can’t see it.
We can pray a prayer of faith, get saved by faith, do works of faith, and have a gift of faith.
Prayers of Faith
Let’s face it; the Bible is a book of faith! The people of God wouldn’t be where they are without it. All things start with prayer, but I’m only going to give one example: the prayer of Hannah. Hannah was barren and desperately wanted a son. She was with her husband in the city of Shiloh, where Eli was serving as a priest. The scriptures state that Hannah was very stressed; her face was downcast, and she would not eat. Nevertheless, Eli noticed Hannah pouring her heart out before the Lord.
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. (1 Sam 1:17-17 NIV)
I suspect the reason Hannah’s face was no longer downcast was due to a “shot of faith.” She believed she would have a son, even though he was not yet there. God granted her request, and she gave birth to the prophet Samuel.
Saving Faith
You cannot “get saved” (born again) without faith. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)
It’s that simple.
Works of Faith
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
It may sound a little confusing since it takes faith to save, and this verse seems like it doesn’t work that way. That is untrue. Believing Jesus died for you takes faith, and you must also live out that same faith by helping others.
Gift of Faith
The gift of faith supersedes the natural realm. It is a crazy type of faith to believe in something when your eyes tell you otherwise. You may have to trust what the scriptures say about a situation without a “direct” word from God. For example, in Mark 16:17-18, Jesus tells his disciples the following:
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Jesus says we can heal the sick. It is a general word for all who believe. Do you have the faith to believe the written word?
What about when God speaks and tells you something that seems impossible will happen? The gift of faith needs to be working in you to obey. There are many examples of this in the Bible, and I encourage you to read Hebrews 11. I’m only going to discuss one: Noah.
The story of Noah is often presented as a cute little children’s story of animals coming two by two and getting on a ship. The elephants and giraffes are all smiles while sticking their heads out the windows as they float around on a year-long cruise. But, it was anything but that.
“God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.”
8 But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
9-10 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11-12 As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core.
13 God said to Noah, “It’s all over. It’s the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I’m making a clean sweep.
14-16 “Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17 “I’m going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18-21 “But I’m going to establish a covenant with you: You’ll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you’ll need and store it up for you and them.”
22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do. (Gen 6:11-22 The Message)
In Genesis, people lived a long time. Noah did not become a father until he was five hundred years old. Experts estimate that he was about four hundred eighty when God told him to build the ark. It took him approximately one hundred twenty years to do so. Historians believe that Noah lived in Mesopotamia along the Nile. Now, if we all reach back into our minds, we may remember that the Nile floods each year, leaving silt deposits that make the land fertile. It was a known flood plain, but a giant boat?
To put into perspective the feat God gave Noah, let’s look at the size of this ark. It was approximately 550′ long, 50′ high, and 75′ wide, with 101,000 square feet inside. It had three decks capable of holding about 570 train box cars. That is huge! History states that a ship of that size did not exist until around the 1800s.
Beyond building it, the man had to paint the whole thing with pitch and gather all the supplies needed for them and their animals. That is a gift of faith!
Until next time under the palm, be blessed!
