How can I have Faith?

This is a topic that I myself have struggled with over my years.

The dictionary would probably offer some dry logical answer that wouldn’t seem satisfactory to me.

When I define ‘Faith’, I want a definition that touches my heart.

One verse from the Bible really makes a big impact on what ‘Faith’ is:

Mathew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

This verse expresses how powerful and important ‘Faith’ is. So, when I ask “What is faith?”

I can answer that it is something so powerful that having only a tiny bit can make a major difference in my life.

In this verse, it says that we could move mountains! I remember this verse when I was a child and I also remember trying to do that exact thing.

Moving Mountains

My family and I used to take a lot of road trips all around The US and I remember seeing a big mountain out the window. It was probably the previous Sunday that I heard the scripture at church so I decided to try it out.

Needless to say, the mountain didn’t instantly uproot itself and move.

Being a child, I dismissed it and went back to my daydreams. It was an experience that I remembered all of these years later.

Maybe I remember that experience because as I said before, I was a child and I didn’t understand a lot about religion, Faith, and The Bible.

That verse said a lot about ‘Faith’, but I believe that there is far more to be learned and understood. As I researched, I also found that ‘Faith’ is confidence. As it is expressed in:

Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

The Curiosity of a Child

Being an overly curious person, I often find it frustrating not to know an answer to something. When I was a child my family had an encyclopedia collection that we got from a garage sale. For those of you who don’t know what an encyclopedia is, it’s basically Wikipedia in paper form.

There were about 15 Books of about 200 pages each and they had a little bit about almost every major topic. Finding information in them was a challenge and it required a lot of reading to find the specific piece of information (if it even had that information).

Back to my story, one year, I had to do a science project for school and I was flipping through one of my encyclopedia’s looking for information. I came across ‘The Big Bang Theory’ which was the first time I had ever heard an alternate definition of how the Universe was constructed.

It was too much for a 10-year-old child to fully understand, so I took it to my father who, through example walked me through the theory.

My father gave me a long talk about this and I would be lying if I said that I remembered what he said that day. Needless to say, my father and I do not believe in ‘The Big Bang Theory’.

Nobody knows how the stars and universe were created with 100% certainty because we were never there at that time.

Have Faith and Confidence

That is why Hebrews 11:1 says that we have to have ‘Faith and Confidence’ in the things we cannot see or understand.

I have ‘Faith’ that The Lord created the Heavens and the Earth. With that verse, I now understand that ‘Faith’ is being powerful and having confidence in the Lord. By those two definitions or examples, I must carry my ‘Faith’ with me daily and work to build my ‘Faith’. But how can I do this and is there more to learn about ‘Faith’?

I think you and I can agree that there is a lot more to ‘Faith’ than just doing the seemingly impossible and having confidence.

If we look at:

Ezekial 18:9 He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord. Trust in The Lord

When reading this verse, you understand that ‘Faith’ is also a form of trust. In this verse, the ‘man’ trusts The Lord and because of that trust, he keeps The Lord’s laws.

I Choose to Trust and Believe

There have been many times where I have not trusted The Lord’s wisdom and counsel. During these times The Lord was telling me to go this way and do this thing, but I chose the easier path which usually led to discomfort, setbacks, and ultimately failure.

It can be difficult to let go and have ‘Faith’ in what to us may seem illogical or incorrect, but we must have trust in The Lord.

By having ‘Faith’ we will be able to move mountains, feel confident to do anything, and be able to trust that Our Lord is with us each and every day.

‘Faith’ is a big part of our relationship and I will continue to learn more as I continue on my journey.

I’ll be here to share it with you!

-Adam