Faith is one of the critical factors in developing a deeper relationship with the Lord, yet many of us have difficulty in increasing our faith life. We are able to recite, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" yet have difficulty moving beyond the "mustard seed" size faith. As a result, we are like cars that are in desperate need of a tune-up. In other words, we sputter along in life not realizing the full potential of whom God has called us to be, when all we need is a fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives.
For many of us, we move along hoping and praying each moment that we are not required to put our faith into action. I wonder what would happen if all of us were required to show signs of our faith growing each day in order to stay alive. Well guess what, we are. In order for us to realize the maximum benefit in serving the Lord, we must constantly expand the limits of our faith. We must be willing to test our faith and take risks in the name of the Lord.
But for many of us, we have resigned ourselves to singing that old familiar song of the church "We've Come This Far by Faith." Therefore, we just move along life's highway singing our little hearts out:
“We've come this far by faith,
Leaning on the Lord,
Trusting in God’s Holy Word,
God’s never failed me yet.
Oh, can't turn around,
We've come this far by faith."
But then, there are those like some of the members of our congregation who, despite their circumstances have moved from singing to putting their faith in action on a daily basis. You know who they are, that's right, they're the ones denying themselves and are busy caring for sick relatives, caring for children in need, visiting the sick, supporting the caregivers, giving a word of encouragement and supporting their church family however possible.
When you think of faith, think of them and include them in your prayers because they have truly "come this far by faith." But not only them; we should also see ourselves coming this far by faith as well. We all need to be able to articulate how God has blessed us and how we respond to those blessings by being a blessing to others. And when we all do this as a church family, operating as the body of Christ; coming this far by faith will be a joyful refrain for all to sing.
