If I just had more faith…. I think most of us have struggled with that at some point in our life. If I just had more faith, I wouldn’t be struggling so much, have as much doubt, or worry. If I just had more faith, God would listen to me more, love me more, and answer my prayers. If I had more faith, my loved ones wouldn’t have died, etc. I know I have been there myself throughout all the stages of my life. This approach to faith can be traced back to the apostles. We see in Luke’s Gospel today, that the disciples ask Jesus to “increase their faith.” Jesus is very clear that faithfulness is not about size or quantity. Faith will not change the circumstances of our lives, instead, it changes us. Living in faith does not shield us from the hurt, pain, and sadness of life, it can’t undo the past, and it doesn’t guarantee a future, rather faith is our belief that we won’t walk through life alone, especially through the trying times. Faith is a relationship of trust and love. It means opening ourselves up to receive God’s life into our own and giving our own life to Jesus Christ. Our relationship with God is crucial to who we are and how we live our lives. We need to put our faith in action day after day in all the everyday, ordinary circumstances so that when the pain and heaviness of life seem more than we can carry, our faith, and our relationship with Jesus, gives us the strength to get out of bed and face the reality of life. Faith is a lens on how we live, how we see ourselves, see others, and the world, so that no matter where we go, what we face, and what is meeting us on the other side of the door, the one who created, loves, sustains and redeems us will be right there with us fighting our battles, and celebrating our wins.
We live by faith not because we have enough faith, but because we simply have faith. Jesus preached and believed that if our faith was even mustard seed size we could move mountains, so if Jesus believed in it for us, then we should believe in it for ourselves too.