As Christians, we should be concerned about our safety, but too many of us make safety such a priority that we’re never brave enough to step out in faith and follow God. God does not want us to live our lives in fear, he wants us to live in faith. So is there anything we can do that will help our faith to grow? Sure!
First, we can obey God even when we don’t understand it. Sometimes God gives us direction in the Bible, and it just doesn’t make sense. What he says to do can be completely foreign to what our culture says is acceptable. We may even earn the scorn of our friends if we obey. It may cost us to obey. But if we want our faith to grow, we’re going to have to learn to obey no matter how we feel.
Hebrews 11:8 (NIV) – By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
When God called Abraham to leave everything and everyone he knew and follow God to a new home, I’m sure it was scary for him. He was at home, with his family, in his comfort zone. Why would the leave that? Because he knew God and trusted him. Abraham didn’t just go out of blind faith. He followed God with complete confidence that God knew what he was doing.
If you will simply obey God, even when it seems difficult or scary to do so, you’ll start growing your faith.
Another thing we can do is trust God in difficult times. We’re going to go through times of pain or fear, it’s just part of life. You may even be going through one of those times right now. Sometimes the only thing you can do is hold on for dear life to the truth that God loves you more than you will ever understand. He does love you, and when you go through painful experiences, he’s always there going through it with you. Peter, who certainly went through some difficult days, wrote this:
1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) – Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.
Never forget that God loves you, and you can trust that he will never leave you alone in the battle. When you’re going through a dark place, Jesus is there to hold your hand as you move through it. You are never alone. We won’t always know why he’s allowing us to go through this, but we know that it’s for a reason and he has our best interests at heart. That’s why he gave us these words:
Romans 8:28 (ESV) – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
When hard times come, lean into God and trust him. You are here for a reason, he’s allowing you to experience this for a reason. You may never know what that reason is, but you can trust him and his love for you no matter what.
Finally, if we want our faith to grow, we can learn patience when God tells us to wait. Now, this is really difficult for me. I am one of the least patient people I know. That’s especially true if I’m having to wait in line. And it’s double especially true if I’m waiting in line for food.
On one of our family beach trips, we went out to eat at a nice restaurant. We got there later than we had planned, and the line was at least a mile long, maybe more. That’s what it felt like anyway. Finally, after over an hour, we were at the front of the line and could see our empty table waiting for us. Then, without any warning, we watched a man and woman enter the building, bypass the check-in counter, skip the line, and go straight to our table and sit down! At our table! Our table! They knew exactly what they were doing in order to get a seat without waiting. We watched in horror as the waitress came and took their drink order, at our table! I almost flipped! We did tell management what had happened, in rather heated language, but they allowed this couple to remain at our table, and we had to wait for the next one. Patience isn’t necessarily one of my strengths.
None of us like to wait, even when the one we’re waiting on is God. With practice, though, we can learn patience. Notice I said “with practice,” which means that God may put us through many times of waiting in order to grow our faith this way. That’s ok, we know he loves us and we know that we can trust him. Over time we’ll learn that his timing is always perfect and that we are much better off when we wait expectantly on him to move.
When you’ve prayed and prayed for a long time with no results; when you work and work for that dream job and just can’t seem to land it; when you can’t seem to find that husband or wife you’ve been praying for – remember that God loves you, he has a plan for you, and he will provide for you…in his timing. During these times of waiting, rely on God and let him grow your faith.
Obey, trust, and wait. As you do those three things, God will strengthen your trust in him. And trusting God is the difference between living your life bored to death and living life as a great adventure – the adventure of following God!
What are you doing in your life right now that is requiring you to trust God?