A little faith ...
Hey Fam,
I was reading the famous walking on water story and I was thinking, do we need a lot of faith or a little faith? Now Jesus commanded the disciples to get in the boat in Matthew 14:22. “ Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd”
The disciples thought they saw a ghost during the storm but it was Jesus. The interesting thing is Peter was the only one that needed an extra sign from Jesus to know if that was him or not. The other disciples stayed in the boat as Jesus commanded before the storm. Don’t we all go through seasons of life where we need that extra sign from God? Like God, if this is you I will come out of this boat, I will be willing to walk on water. But I have been realizing sometimes in your faith walk, it takes just as much faith to stay in the boat as it does to walk on water. There might be a season where we know it’s God and we don’t need the spectacular miraculous blessings and we can just stay in our boat and stay focused because we know it’s God. But sometimes there are seasons where we are like God, I need this blessing, I need this sign, is this opportunity from you? Should I make this decision? Then we get a call to walk on water because sometimes we don’t know. God usually doesn't give us the whole staircase, only the first step.
So when we are in those seasons, do we need a lot of faith? Or a little faith?
Well.. as we see in Mathew 14:30-31 Peter got out of the boat, he knew God was calling him to step out in faith, and Jesus was waiting for him. Now mind you the crazy part of this whole thing was, there was a storm happening in the midst of this!
God will many times call you to step out of your boat when things are already hard! Lol. Like God common this too? He called us to step out of all the things your used to, not when things are going well, not when things are perfect but when things look horrendous, when things look like you might never make it, when things look like you might never see tomorrow but this is when little faith comes in.
Peter stepped out and he felt a strong wind and became scared but he called to his father “Lord, please save me!” He cried out to his father (Abba) In times of desperation or in times when we just don’t have the answer when we cry out to our father God he will always save us.
It says in Matthew 14:31 “ Instantly Jesus reached out his hand, caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt”
Jesus acknowledged that he had little faith and doubt! He knows your fears and your doubts. But this is why we need to be honest with ourselves and God and bring him everything in prayer. Prayer is an honest conversation between you and the father. If you have doubts ask God why? God questioned Peter about his faith but I believe not in an interrogating way, because God knows everything but in a way for Peter to think about. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt” was the last thing Jesus said to Peter before they got into the boat to take the rest of the trip to Gennesaret. Jesus left Peter with that question so he could think about it on the rest of the boat ride. Luckily at that time there was no Instagram, no cell phones so Peter could not be distracted and really think about his doubt. Many times God will ask us questions and sometimes we are not ready for it and we distract ourselves and we miss what God is trying to tell us! We miss the boat. This is why we need to spend time with God alone and silence to hear what he wants to download in our hearts, mind and soul.
Ask him to increase your faith, ask him to increase your territory. Let him know that you doubt sometimes, that’s okay. We are only human and we aren’t perfect. Even in our doubt, in our insecurity, in our little faith God can still use us in a big way. Jesus saved Peter from the storm even though Jesus knew he was going to deny him 3 times but he still had Peter write books in the Bible, he still used him to his potential and gave him purpose. You don’t need to have perfect faith to have purpose, you don’t need to have perfect faith to be used by God, you don’t need to be perfect yourself to live a Godly life.
God loves a little.
This is why he says all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed in Matthew 13:31. He also said “whomever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much”. This is why in Matthew 18:12 Jesus is happier about finding that one sheep that wandered off than the 99 that didn’t wander off.
In my experience a little bit turns into a lot
5 mins of exercise turns into 30 mins
2 mins of prayer turns into 10
1 day of healthy eating can turn into a week
Writing 1 paragraph turned into 5 pages
A little activates momentum … and momentum carries you into greatness. You can’t stop a train on its tracks … you can’t stop Lebron coming down the lane.
An avalanche starts with one snowflake … and be careful when you go out because you know the saying … I’ll just have one drink lol.
Sometimes it’s just that one thing, that little thing. That one time. That one time can push us into greatness or that one time can diminish all of our progress. It might seem little, but that one seed can grow the biggest tree in the garden.
It’s all about a little, we don’t need a lot.
A little faith is how you grow a tree that can withstand any storm and can be a home for birds. What kind of habitat are you creating for everyone around you? It all starts with a little faith the size of a mustard seed.
How do we grow our faith? I created an acronym called PRAWF. Do you even PRAWF bro? Lol kidding.
Prayer
Reading and studying the word
Act & Practice (taking action)
Worship
Fellowship with other believers
These things are huge factors in increasing your faith and when it becomes part of your lifestyle your faith gets deeper and stronger. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 7:24” Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”. < - - We have to put the word into practice. In order words we can’t just read about it we gotta be about it. I feel Jesus asking me “ Are you about this life?” And say even though I miss the mark sometimes, I am about this life, and we can all be together, let’s get it. What is Jesus asking you today?
I hope this helped and inspired you! I know God downloaded this on my heart for someone!
God bless and have a great week !
Kevin Benejam