The Faith Factor

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:1-6

Faith … is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. Hebrews 11:1

Remember Kim? She’s the one who finds it easy to see God at work in her friend Robin, nudging her closer to becoming a Christian. But get this: Kim has a hard time seeing how God can help her with her homework, so she constantly worries about her grades.

And Ian? He sees God changing his life from the inside out as a result of his spending time reading the Bible and talking to God. But often he thinks that he alone gets the credit for the money he earns mowing lawns and sweeping driveways. So he seldom gives any of his hard-earned cash to God in the church offering.

What kind of faith is that?

The normal kind! It’s the kind of faith that most of us have most of the time. Faith is like the pitcher on a baseball team—you can’t have much of a game without one. The Bible uses strong words to describe the role of faith in the Christian life:

• “It is impossible to please God without faith” (Hebrews 11:6).

• “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Romans 1:17).

• “Everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23, NIV).

The apostle Paul said faith is one of the three great qualities in the Christian life—along with hope and love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13).

You can’t get along without faith. But faith doesn’t start out strong. It doesn’t start out like a pitcher who can hurl a fastball over home plate at a hundred miles an hour. It’s more like a baby who has trouble just trying to lift her head off the bed.

So sometimes your faith is strong. You can look at a situation and see God at work. Other times doubt, worry, or spiritual ignorance make it difficult to trust God. Sometimes you can say, “I do believe!” But other times you beg God to help you trust him. If you ever feel stuck between belief and unbelief, you’re normal.

Jesus’ disciples—even though they watched their master up close and personal for three years—were often short on faith. Can you imagine? With their own eyes they saw Jesus raise the dead, heal the sick, calm the storm, and cast out demons—and they still struggled with faith.

When you wish you had bigger trust in God, pray these words straight from the mouths of Jesus’ closest disciples, and be confident God will grow your faith in him: “We need more faith; tell us how to get it” (Luke 17:5).

TALK: How are you going to grow in faith? What is God’s plan to help?

PRAY: God, thanks for sticking with us even when our faith isn’t full grown.

ACT: Strengthen your faith by spending some time reading Scripture today!