The Power of Faith

So someone asked me an interesting question the other day on Formspring... and it really made me think. To some, it may sound like the most simple question to answer - I thought it was, too.

The question?: "What reason is there to have faith in God?"

My first initial reaction was, "Oh that's an easy one," but once my fingers hit the keyboard, my mind went blank. Only one scripture in the Bible popped into my brain - and that was Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." But then I thought Okay, so that explains what faith is, but not the reason to have faith.

So, what is the reason to have faith in God?

Faith is highly favored in God's eyes - in fact Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Anything and everything is possible when you have faith. There are many stories that tell us what faith can do and how important it is - here's a short one found in Matthew chapter 9, starting at verse 27:

"As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he askd them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30and their sight was restored.

Not only does that tell us how powerful and compassionate Jesus is, but it also gives us a wonderful example of what faith can really do, such as heal the blind. What good is our life here on earth if all we do is doubt? Peter learns this lesson in chapter 14 (of Matthew also) when he wanted to walk on the water with Jesus. He had the faith to get out of the boat and onto the water, but once he looked around at the waves and the wind, doubt kicked in and he began to sink. When Jesus caught him, he said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Faith isn't something we should take lightly. It has the power to give us our deepest desires. Don't make the mistake of relying on your faith - having faith doesn't mean you're depending on it, no, you're depending on God. Having faith is trusting God and knowing He is able to do all things.

"Being sure of what we hope for" - what does that mean? It means we're believing in what's unseen. Christians know that God exists because of their faith. They can't physically see Him, but they know He's there. Hope is the first step to having faith. When we hope for something, we're anxious to see if what we were hoping for will come true. Romans 8:24 says, "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?"

Do we hope for things we already know is going to happen? Do we wake up in the morning and say, "I hope I'm going to eat breakfast"? On the contrary - having faith is knowing that what we hope for is going to come true. I don't literally see Karl and I getting married at this very moment, but I know it's going to happen. Don't underestimate God - He's a huge God, therefore He performs huge miracles. All it takes is faith.