I saw many occasions in the Scriptures where things like this were said: O ye of little faith; I have not seen so great a faith; and Increase our faith. In some way, faith can be quantified, and, more important to us I think, it can grow. A little more searching and pondering and I came to the conclusion that some things take more faith (trust) to handle than others. So maybe we should take note of those things so that our faith will not fail because we were unprepared.
And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily (Acts 16:4-5). When we exercise a particular muscle, that muscle will usually be sore the next day. We can either stop exercising and see an actual decrease in strength, or we can keep exercising and grow stronger. It seems to me that exercising our "learning muscle" can work the same way. Sometimes learning hurts because it shows us our weaknesses, our faults, our misunderstandings of the Word. So what will we do about it? Keep working and studying and learning, or quit because we don't want to learn something new or what we learn—some "decrees"--may not be to our liking. So learning new things not only requires us to trust that God knows best whether you agree with Him or not! Only those without that kind of trust (faith) will rebel.
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring (2Thess 1:3-4). Paul tells the Thessalonians that he boasts about their growing faith and love for each other. But what is it that is making that faith grow? Persecutions and afflictions. I suppose this ought to be a no-brainer. Of course it requires more faith to handle persecution and afflictions, and those very things are also making their faith and love grow.
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:3-5). I have always found this passage hilarious. Jesus says we are to forgive again and again and again, even for the same sin, and the apostles immediately cry out, "Lord, increase our faith!" These men knew that it would take a lot more faith than they had at the moment to obey that command. Faith to forgive? Yes. Remember, faith is trust, and it takes that kind of faith to rely on God to take care of the wrongs done against us. Vengeance is mine, he says in Romans 12:19, I will repay. Do we trust Him to handle our affairs, or do we think we need to take care of it ourselves? If we find ourselves unable to forgive, then maybe we don't have enough faith (trust) in God to do so, no matter how much we protest otherwise.
But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (Jude 1:17-21). This might be the most obvious case. We need a strong faith to handle it when people scoff at our beliefs. How many have fallen because someone called them stupid for believing in God? How many could not stand up to the crowd and dare to be different? And how many times have divisions in the Lord's body caused the weak to falter and eventually leave. "If this is the Lord's church, I don't want any part of it." If only they had worked harder on "building up" their faith instead of allowing others to tear it down. When you see these things happening, pray for God to "Increase our faith." We are trusting in Him, not in fallible, flawed people, because that is what the church is made of. If you want the perfect group of people, then you had better stay away from it yourself.
Remember when these times come to shore up your faith. In fact, start working on it now before the hard times come. Lack of preparation is no excuse. If I can find over 200 passages on faith, what it is, how to build it, when we need it most, and the wonderful things it can do for us, so can you!
And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:14-20).
Dene Ward