According to Your Faith, Let it Be Done. Growing From Limited Faith to Limitless Faith
“God isn’t checking for your bank account, he’s checking for your faith.”
I saw this on an IG post and it’s been resonating in my spirit ever since. When God calls us to do something bigger than ourselves He's not looking at our finances, ability, social status, etc.. He's looking at our faith. It challenged me to evaluate my own lack of faith in certain areas of my life. How many times do I pray or ask for things according to my ability instead of God’s? How often do I believe something is impossible simply because I don’t have the money or the resources to make it happen? These are the questions I began to ask myself, and here’s the conclusion I came to.
It shouldn’t be this way. As followers of Christ, we are called to believe the impossible can happen because all things are possible with God. We are called to walk by faith (not sight), and not lean on our own understanding. We won’t see God do exceedingly and abundantly more in our lives if we don’t believe He can. It’s up to us to live by faith so that we can experience God do what only He can do.
That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:5
Now you might be thinking, “God doesn’t need me to perform a miracle, He’s God!” and you’re right. God is all-powerful and is not limited by people. However, my point is this: lack of faith doesn’t limit God, it limits us. Our lack of faith limits our ability to receive what God wants to do in our lives, not God’s ability to accomplish it.
Think about it like this. God is our provider. If He calls you to give sacrificially of your finances, but you’re too afraid to do so because - what if an emergency happens? Then you’ll miss the opportunity to grow in faith and see God truly provide; to learn that it’s not your work ethic or your employer who pays your bills. Moreover, you won’t find a godly spouse if you don’t have the faith to believe one exists. Why? Because you’ll talk yourself into settling by thinking, “I’ll never find someone who practices abstinence so I should just scratch that off my list.” And so on and so forth.
God calls us to walk by faith so we’ll rely on and draw closer to Him. If we knew every step to take or if the instructions He gave us made sense, then He wouldn’t get the glory. We’d think we accomplished these things on our own. I love the story in Matthew of Jesus healing the blind men. It illustrates the call to walk by faith so well.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them,“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. - Matthew 9:27-30
According to your faith…According to your faith let it be done. According to OUR faith, it will be done in our lives. This shows me that we must believe in order to receive things blessings God has for us.
Recently I took a HUGE leap of faith. I picked up my entire life, left my job, my church, and everything I knew to move to a new city because…God told to me. He didn’t tell me why He just said go. I wrestled with Him for confirmation (which I got) and for a reason (which I didn’t get), but at the end of the day, I held my breath and took the leap. I came to the conclusion that the unknown path with God is safer and better than any path without Him. I don’t know what He has for me here, but I know He’s good. So whatever His plan, I trust it’s for my good.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6
So what’s limiting your faith? It is a lack of trust, fear or doubt? Is it difficult to believe God can fulfill your deepest desire because so far He hasn’t? If so, I encourage you to spend more time with Him and get to know His character. It’s difficult to trust someone you barely know, and until you know God intimately, you’ll struggle with surrendering to Him. You may not understand His way, but you’ll learn to trust Him when you know His character.
Your surroundings could be holding you back as well. It’s crucial to guard your mind and heart against people or things that cause you to think negatively and doubt God’s power. You don’t need that in your life. Faith is hard enough with the right people in your corner! If you don’t know what’s holding you back, ask God. He’s faithful to give us wisdom when we ask for it (James 1:5). If you know exactly what it is, tell God. Lay it at His feet. He’s faithful to help us in our weakness and with our unbelief (Mark 9:22-24).
Lastly, I want you to know that experiencing God’s power in your life doesn’t require grandiose faith. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. What matters is that you believe and take a step. Think about the Apostle Peter. He had enough faith to climb out of the boat and walk on water, but half-way in He doubted. But Jesus didn’t let drown, He caught Him and He’ll catch you. Trust God enough to step out, and He’ll meet you there. Don’t focus on your timeline, your resources, or the odds. If you keep your eyes on Jesus you’ll see that He’s the one that makes everything else fall into place.
