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“Lord, Increase Our Faith!”
As we grow in our life with Christ and actually, without reservation, take His Word and His promises at face value, we will inevitably come face to face with the limits of our faith. After all, there is only so much we can believe today and, if we are growing in our faith, there will hopefully be more we can believe tomorrow. But right now we live in today and today we must prepare for tomorrow. That is why His disciples cried out to Him and pleaded, “Lord, increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).
That’s the essence of being a faith prepper.
So let me ask just a few questions. What is the shortest way to get from where you are in your life of faith right now and where you want to be? Or, what can you do to increase your faith? Just like everything else in life, increase comes from repeated use and exercise. So you must exercise your faith, and unfortunately, that is done by having your faith tested.
No pain, no gain.
No Pain, No Gain
If you will look at James 1:2-4, you will see this is the classic No Pain, No Gain passage regarding faith. Especially when you take the time to define the words James uses to convey this truth.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
After looking up the various Greek words in the verse, it would read something like this:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall (surrounded, engulfed, in the midst of) into various trials (temptations, testing, adversity, afflictions), knowing (ginṓskō) that the testing (to try or prove by afflictions) of your faith (firm persuasion, conviction, assurance, belief in the truth) produces (to work, to bring about, to accomplish, to carry out a task until it is finished) patience (to persevere, to remain under, to bear up under, to endure). But let patience (to persevere, to remain under, to bear up under, to endure) have its perfect (reaching a goal or purpose, finished, that which has reached its end, complete, full, wanting for nothing) work (performance, the result or object of employment), (why) that you may be perfect (reaching a goal or purpose, finished, that which has reached its end, complete, full, wanting for nothing) and complete (all, the whole, sound, perfect, with all its needed parts), lacking nothing – James 1:2-4.
And it that wasn’t enough, read Matthew 10:1-15, where Jesus intentionally puts His disciples in situations that will require them to exercise their faith. After all, He sends them out two by two and tells them to bring nothing with them to rely on. Then He commands them to do the same things by faith they had seen their Lord do. It was time to exercise their faith, time to move from milk to meat. It was time to grow up. No pain, no gain.
Next, we have the account of the early church in the first few chapters of Acts. Different day, but same story. Every time a new trial comes their way, it forced them to rely only on Jesus and to exercise their faith in Him. Read it for yourself.
To grow in the faith we are going to need, as our world dissolves into more chaos, requires us to become proficient with the faith we already possess. From there, growth comes from testing. And testing is often painful. But that shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us. Why? Because of the universal truth, “No Pain, No Gain”.
