TODAY IS…

a superb day to ask, “Do I have enough faith?”

“’You don’t have enough faith,’ Jesus told them.”  Matthew 17:20a NLT

Jesus was a very patient man who exhibited a tremendous amount of control over His thoughts and emotions when teaching His disciples or when speaking to large groups of people. There were times, however, when His words would show a little edge of impatience or frustration, such as when the man brought his son to Jesus for help healing his seizures. The man had tried Jesus’ disciples first, but they were unable to help.

When he asked for Jesus’ help, “Jesus said, ‘You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.’” (Matthew 17:17 NLT).

After Jesus healed the boy, the disciples asked Jesus in private why they had been unable to do it. Jesus did not hesitate to point out that it was a matter of faith.

“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 17:20b NLT).

So the question for all of us is this: “Do we really have enough faith?”

Stop and think before answering, because most of us will immediately answer, “Yes!”

Peter had enough faith when he stepped out of the boat, but a moment of doubt caused him to falter and to sink.

How many of us start out with that same level of conviction but let little cracks appear the moment something seems to be impeding our progress, or creating a distraction? It is in our moment of doubt that our faith must become the strongest. As soon as we feel the first little tug at the threads of our confident trust in God, we must eliminate that loose thread by calling upon the Lord to help make our faith stronger and then we must trust that it will be so.

It is important to remember that when satan observes our faith getting stronger, he is most likely to attack with fear, doubt, anxiety, hesitation, and other weapons of negativity that are designed to make us take our eyes off the Lord, like Peter, so that we, too, will then “sink.”

We must never become complacent and we must always be on guard.

Undoubtedly we will be met with things that will test our faith as we follow Christ. It is our job to keep our eyes focused on the Lord because it is satan’s job to take our eyes off of Him.

Daily prayer, daily effort, and daily commitment will combine to help you answer positively when you are asked, “Do you have enough faith?”

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson