A Measure of Faith
WORD 2. MEASURE
It makes no worldly sense at all that God would do such a thing as to send His Son to save us from our sin. Only a love so great would be so reckless in action. There are no guarantees on a return with our free will design. It’s a huge risk for a payoff that, to our mind seems to fall short. God-blood for mankind? Perfection for imperfection? It’s beyond our comprehension. But “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” (1 Cor 1:27).
What do we have to do, really, to be saved by God? How do we live in the grace that He has made available to us? Ephesians 2:8.- “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” We just have to believe it. And therein lies the problem. That is the foolishness that confounds the wise. People don’t always believe. They may even say it. “I’m an atheist. No faith in me.” But guess what? Not true! Everyone is capable of believing. Our good God made it possible and leveled the playing field for everyone when He created us. Everyone has faith. Don’t believe me (pun-intended)? Bible verse: God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (Rom 12:3).
In eternity, when God was creating man, he snuck into every person a measure or a portion of faith. It’s like a leaven or a dormant seed, it’s in there and it needs to be activated. That is what Jesus was talking about when He said, “if you have faith as a 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 17:20). A mustard seed is tiny but when activated by planting it in the ground, the plant that grows is one of the largest in the herb family. Jesus was a relevant speaker and knew that the people He was speaking to had seen and planted these tiny seeds and seen the results. His message? You have the portion of faith you need. Activate it and the impossible is no more!
We have all been given our perfect portion size of faith. God is good. No one has been met with too small a deposit for what they are asked to believe. Where are you struggling with faith? Maybe you have given your heart to Jesus but are still seeing unanswered prayers and your faith is wavering. Here is the thing. God gave you your allotment and it is enough. Your job is to activate it. Act on it by living in faith. Rejoice for receiving what you haven’t yet received, by faith. See the impossible through the possible eyes of faith. Make faith your sight. We walk by faith and not by sight right? (2 Cor 5:7).
Can I help you with something though? It’s not about the result, it’s about the faith. If you can grasp that truth, you will live differently. You may say, “What is the sense of believing if in the end you don’t receive?” I get it. But that is an outcome-oriented attitude. And I have come to realize that God is not an outcome-oriented God as much as He is a God of the moment and the God of the process. An outcome-led life can leave God right out of the equation, no faith needed. Here is my life God! I worked hard to live right- what do you think? There is no relationship and no fellowship in that kind of life.
God is a God of faith. He is a God of the moment. He doesn’t live in time so He is content to just be with us as we move through it, always there in our messes with mercy and grace and a lift up again. Without (activating our) faith it is impossible to please Him. Those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb 11:6 paraphrased). That word seek just means to choose to believe. He’s invisible, right? So it doesn’t mean look behind the couch for Him. It means- believe that He exists and see His rewards (ahead) and be assured of them. (Heb 11:13).
The way I see it, the measure of faith given to me is my assurance of a life of reward, a life of relationship with God, a joyful life. The timing of when I receive that for which I am believing is becoming less important as I learn to live in the moment. Recently, I was spending some time in prayer for some people that I love and I began to imagine that what I was praying for was true right now. I envisioned these people in church, loving Jesus, a testimony to the goodness of God. My heart was leaping with joy at the thought! At that moment, God spoke to me and said, “What if you worship me right now as if that has already happened?” And I did. I praised Him for what I could see was possible with Him. I worshipped Him for His compassion and relentless love that goes after people. I was assured in His goodness. It was a joyful, amazing moment that He and I had together. I’m still waiting for the day that what I have seen by faith will manifest here on earth. But I am not caught up in the distance of the outcome as I am taken up in the now- into the realm of what is possible by believing.
The measure of faith we have been given is an allowance that we can invest in and live in the return. It has a degree that multiplies exponentially. Faith connects the temporality of our world to the dimension of the eternal Kingdom of God. Its amplitude is beyond our human reach, making the impossible possible. It’s magnitude has no earthly scale and yet we can access it here and activate it at will. Its breadth and height are incomprehensible and yet we can live in the bang of it. Its strength is available to each of us, the extent to which we employ it is our own resolution. Our reach is proportional to our mete, our range in ratio to our cultivated share.
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. (Heb 11:32-35).
