When my mother was trying to quit smoking, she found
herself completely unable to break free of the habit.
One afternoon, she recounted getting down on her
knees and admitting to God:
“I have no
faith in myself, and I have very little faith in you. Please help me to break
free of smoking.”
From that point on, she never smoked again. She
never had to try to keep free, and she never relapsed.
Whether she realized it or not, she had communicating a telling element about faith in God:
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Philippians 3: 3)
God is not moved by our efforts, but by our faith in Him,
no matter how small:
"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you,
If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be
impossible unto you." (Matthew 17: 20)
Jesus spoke this chiding to His disciples and those whom they were trying to serve. The root of their unbelief lies in the preceding verse:
"And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him." (Matthew 17: 16)
The people thought that the disciples could heal their son -- only Jesus heals, and only in His name, by His authority, as He is in us, can we do anything.
The faith of Jesus Christ is manifest as the preeminent element with another man, who struggled to believe:
"Jesus said unto him, If
thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
"And
straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I
believe; help thou mine unbelief." (Mark 9: 23-24)
The 23rd verse would be better translated thus:
"And Jesus said to him, 'If thou art able to believe! all things are possible to
the one that is believing" (Young's Literal Translation)
Jesus was not referring to the distraught father's faith, but His own when He said "All things are possible to Him who believes!"
And in the following verse, the father cries out that Jesus would keep helping his unbelief. Even when our faith does not measure up perfectly, Jesus' faith makes it all work out!
Let us trust, therefore, in His faith, for believers are called to live by His faith:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)
His faith and His grace live through us, and Paul made a point not to frustrate this grace through His own efforts. He warned the same for his fellow believers in Galatia:
"For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
"Christ is become of
no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen
from grace. (Galatians 5: 3-4)
In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17: 28). Let us rest in Him, then:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengeneth
me “ (Philippians 4: 13)
In the original language, the verse actually reads
“I am strong in all things through Christ.”
No matter what you may be facing today, see Jesus as your strength through you to see
you through!
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