GROWTH in Faith

“Didn’t I tell you
that if you would have faith,
you would see God’s glory?”
[Jn 11:39]

These are Jesus’ words to Martha, as she questioned Him, just before He raised Lazarus from the tomb. When Lazarus did walk out of the tomb, the Glory of God was seen by Martha and all who were present.

How often we hear and see the powerful work of God through Scripture and through Christ made present in the Eucharist. When Jesus heals the blind, casts out demons, and even raises men from the dead, we look for tangible ways to make this powerful action a reality in our lives.

If we want the reality of the Presence of God in our midst, as something seen, we need faith. Faith makes it possible for the Holy Spirit to live in us and work through us.

How often does God want to do things for us?

Sometimes, we feel that whatever happens is the will of God. Therefore, waiting to see what God does becomes the action of our faith. Whatever it turns out to be will become for us the best thing possible. We want what God wants, therefore, whatever God does is fine.

Does this approach demonstrate an eagerness to know God, to experience His glory and to experience his presence in our lives? Though it is true, we should want what God wants above all our desires, we fail to do what he wants when we limit our faith this way.

Faith is based upon the knowledge that God wants to do things for us and through us. He has told us through scripture promises that he wants to do things for us and through us. We can have faith that he will.

“I am telling you the truth:
whoever believes in me will do what I do – yes,
he will do even greater things, because I am going to the Father.

And I will do whatever you ask for in my name,
 so that the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son.
 If you ask me for anything in my name,
I will do it.”
[Jn 14:12-14]

Imagine, the power of God, available freely to us for the asking, to make our faith active by yielding to God so that he can do things through us! Letting God work in our lives through faith makes it possible for us to count on and cooperate with what God is doing.

The certainty of faith is not always supplied by seen reality, nor are we to have a “blind faith” stemmed from the decision to believe something will happen even if there is no good reason to do so. This is but an act of will, our own exertion.

“To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for,
to be certain of the things we cannot see.
It was by their faith that people of ancient times
won God’s approval”

“Yet they did not receive what God had promised,
because God had decided on an even better plan for us.”
[Heb 11:1-2; 39b-40a]

When we see something, we have knowledge of it as perceived through the senses. Christian faith is believing in something unseen. It is a response to the fact that God is there. He made promises to us. We can not exert our will on God, nor can we limit God’s plans with our own desires. The truth is that he keeps his promises and God can do whatever he wants. What He wants is revealed to us slowly and is beyond our ability to see.

When we have a belief of this in the core of our heart we can trust it.

“So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way,
and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination
the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus,
on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.

He did not give up because of the cross!

On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him,
he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross
and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne.”
[Heb 12:1b-2]

Martha did not see the glory of God until she expected it in faith. Upon meeting Jesus on the road to Bethany from Jerusalem, Martha said, “I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for.” [Jn 11:22] Yet, remarkably, Martha held back the desire of her heart. She did not ask. It was beyond the possibilities she could see or imagine. Yet, Jesus knew what was in her heart, even before she did.

Believing is the kind of faith we have from accepting Christian truths, such as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God or that there is a heaven or hell.

Trusting faith is faith in God’s goodness, believing that everything will turn out well. God will take care of us because he loves us. But to see the Glory of God, we must have the confident expectation that he will do things for us if we only turn to him. When we put that kind of faith in him, things happen!

Once God begins to show us something about what we can expect from him, we need to respond to that by believing it, counting on it, and acting upon it.

Faith grows. The Lord wants us to have an experience of faith. He wants us to have the expectation of growth in faith. He wants us to know that it comes from him and to not be anxious. Once we begin to see what God can do, we begin to believe more easily see what God will do.

Pray for faith. It is simply, a prayer that God always answers. We should persevere in that prayer until we see it happen within us, knowing that the Lord wants us to have faith and that he will give it to us.
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Messiah is a child of God;
and whoever loves a father loves his child also.
This is how we know we love God’s children:
it is by loving God and obeying his commands.

For our love for God means that we obey his commands.
And his commands are not too hard for us,
because every child of God is able to defeat the world.
And we win victory over the world by means of our faith.
We have courage in God’s presence,
because we are sure that he hears us
if we ask him for anything that is according to his will.”
[1 Jn 5:1-4; 14]