“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in
him; But the just shall live by his faith.”—Habakkuk
2:4
Jesus spent time developing His
disciples’ faith because He knew it
would be essential for the tasks ahead of them.
For over three years, they attended a school of faith with Jesus as their instructor and the Bible as Jesus knew it
consisted of some twelve to twenty
scrolls of different sizes. On those scrolls were written 39 books which
were divided into three major groups - Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. Most often Christ used parables in His verbal
instruction, but many of the lessons were taught through demonstrations. He healed the sick, cast out demons, fed
thousands, and calmed the sea. Their
training even included tests that revealed if they truly believed Jesus was the
Messiah.
At times the disciples’ understanding was slow or faltering, but Christ
never gave up on them. He reproved them
whey exhibited a lack of trust, “But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful?
How is it that you have no
faith?’” (Mark 4:40). He also
commended signs of progress, “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.’
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in
heaven” (Matthew 16:15-17). His
objective was to firmly establish their faith
so He could accomplish His work in and through them. After His ascension, He commanded His men to
spread the gospel of salvation to the remotest parts of the earth. Without faith,
they would have failed.
The Lord has the same goal for us—to
increase our faith so we can do the
work He has planned for us. If our faith is great, He will entrust us with
challenges and achieve amazing things through us. But small faith limits God’s activity in a believer’s life. He uses us only to the degree that we trust
Him.
Faith
building is essential in a believer’s life, and God has two primary means
of doing this. Scripture tells us what
to believe about Him, and tests place us in difficult situations that stretch
us to believe and rely on God instead of our own understanding. Each
time we believe Him, our faith grows.
Prayer—Father
I thank You that in each circumstance that I can trust You knowing that the
outcome is sure because my faith is in You not in the circumstance—good or
bad. Today I purpose in my heart not to
limit Your activity in my life, but I will fully trust and confidently rely
upon You, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
