Great faith? What's that?

You know the verse, "have faith as small as a mustered seed and you can move a mountain?" And I have always struggled with that because I've felt like at certain times in my life, "I have faith God! I really do!! So why aren't my mountains moving?"

Viewing Abraham who is one of the Bible's greatest men of faith I really just see a man who took God at his word. God told Abraham that He was going to do something (give him a child and increase his descendants to be as many as the stars in the sky) and Abraham believed Him. Seems simple enough. But how much time did Abraham have to believe for? Didn't seem to matter.

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him." - Romans 4: 18

Against all hope. Have you ever felt like that? No hope. Absolutely nothing pointed towards the understanding that the thing you were hoping for was in the cards. (at least in the near future) and yet, you held on to the hope that you had. That's faith my friend.

You want to hear some more about those mountains? Well let me tell you: It's that job that you never think your going to get but you keep striving towards it by going to interviews, and pursuing every open door you find.

It's that time goal you have for your next race...you feel as though you may never ever reach it, but as you train and train you give God your best and you keep on going.

It's that sickness for your family member that you never stop praying for healing for.

It's the battle with depression that you keep fighting because you have faith that God will sustain you.

Moving the mountain does not always means that the trouble you are praying against leaves you life. The mountain can be the WAY you endure that trouble. Your mountain may be your fear about the sickness, your fear about the race, your fear about the depression. And when you trust HIM your mountain begins to move.

"The words, "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." Romans 4: 23,24

As I was reading through these passages this morning I just kept praying, "Lord, give me eyes to see, I know that Abraham was a great man of faith, but what was it that he did so differently from the rest of us? HOW did he have so much faith? Where did this "skill" come from..."

Faith is this: Taking God at His word. Why do we feel as though we can do this? (taking Him at His word) "This righteousness from God comes through Faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe..." Romans 3: 22

and how can we believe? " But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

So lets break this down: We can have faith because we can trust Him. We can trust Him because he loved us enough to die for us while we were still faithless sinners.

Therefore I can have faith in what God is doing. This does not mean that everything sickness I pray healing over will be healed. BUT the way I am able to have hope, peace and joy in that sickness does prove His faithfulness. Without God, sickness and death are just, sickness and death. But With God there is promise of life after death, and hope in trial. Does this mean I'm going to go to my race and win it? Am I suddenly going to be able to run a 6 minute mile? Most likely not. But I can in faith trust my training, to run my best race possible.

Faith DOES move mountains, but perhaps we have spent to much time focusing on what the mountain is that we missed it's movement. A misplaced mountain, and faith can completely be missed. SO name your mountain today. And then ask God to show you how to move it. Abraham was a great man who took God at His word. Because Abraham had FAITH IN HIS WORDS based on His track record of faithfulness. And so can you. Go forward in faith today, not because your awesome, but because God is awesome. Not because your strong, but because God is strong. Not because your a perfect follower of Christ, but because Christ is perfect. That is where your source of faith comes from, tapping into it, is as easy as looking back at His past faithfulness which is written on every single page of His word.