Great faith

God builds our life up so that He can develop great faith in us . . . so that He can call us to great works. It is His design that we do so (Eph 2:10).  We cannot have the one without the other. Our physical life will be strewn with trials and unobtainable visions that, should we walk without the Lord, will defeat us. Yet, if we begin with small faith, and walk with trust in the Lord, we will develop great faith and accomplish great works.


Abraham was called to be the father of nations. Yet this was not something God could do alone for Abraham. Abraham needed to develop faith. The barrenness of his wife Sarah was the trial. There was no way around her barrenness, and her maid Hagar could not be a surrogate for God’s will. The trial Abraham and Sarah faced meant more than being patient for God’s timing; it meant believing God for the impossible, for not only was Sarah barren, but the time spent waiting added to the impossibleness, for she was past the age of bearing children.

We cannot have the spiritual without the physical. The actual trials in our lives work faith in us, more precious than gold (1 Pet 1:7). For those who are called to spiritual greatness, there will be physical trials. If we are to walk like Jesus and even do greater things than He did, we must have great faith develop in us through our physical life. Jesus’ disciples once asked Him why they couldn’t cast a demon out of an epileptic boy. He told them “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt 17:20-21)

Our mountains are physical barriers to what we have to do. We need faith to get those mountains out of our way. The faith comes first, and the speaking follows. Some are teaching a form of declaring by faith that which we are believing for, and then what we declare will come to pass. James taught that faith without works is dead (Jms 2:17). To use James’ example, we cannot declare that our brother or sister is warm, and fed; we need to physically give them what they need (Jms 2:14-16). Likewise, we cannot declare our mountain be removed just by wishing it away; we need to have faith. And faith is manifest in the works we do daily.

Abraham’s daily works of faith began as a journey from his homeland to the land God promised him. His faith was tested by many things before the actual son, Isaac, was born to Sarah. And Isaac was whom the promise of God was to come through. He was the beginning point for a nation to be born. At any point along Abraham’s life he could have lost faith for the great work that God had called him too. But his actions showed that he believed God’s promise.

Are you on a journey with insurmountable mountains? Do the circumstances of your life bode against the calling of God for you? Then consider that God has called you to great faith, and press on with the Lord. Trust Him, and believe His promises to you. A mountain can be removed. Your whole life up to this time has been designed to deepen your faith so that you can do just that. Amen.