Hebrews 11 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”
The Message Bible
And the chapter goes on to list these great men and women of faith…
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab… and then the writer of Hebrews says:
11:32-38 “I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves.”
Now, this is an awe-inspiring list of great men and women and the feats they accomplished for God…
But, who knows we don’t always feel up to that level of faith and in fact, these stories can sometimes seem out of reach for us and when you’re already down, it’s just, “Meh”.
So, I want to consider with you some men of not-so-great faith as pointed out by Jesus and recorded by Matthew.
Four times through the book of Matthew Jesus uses the term, “O you of little faith”. They are found in chapters 6, 8, 14 & 16 and that’s what we’ll have a brief look at here…
1. Faith for Provision
28 “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. 29 Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?”
This message is set in the midst of what we know as the Sermon On The Mount.
So, it wasn’t born out of a specific circumstance at the time but more so a great and grand teaching during other teaching.
See, Jesus was teaching an all-encompassing message about life and how it should be lived:
The Beatitudes – Salt and light – love your enemies – The Lord’s Prayer – and in the midst of that message he said, “You’ve got to believe me God will provide for you…”
This is a work and faith that God instilled in me early on in my Salvation.
When I came to Christ in January 1995, I was left with $1000 worth of debt, which at the time was huge to me (I was 19 and jobless). God didn’t miraculously remove the debt… He gave me a job which was enough to earn and pay the exact amount off!
Over and over again I’ve seen God’s timing to meet the need at the time.
I’ve had pay cheques that haven’t come when we expected them and we managed and then when it came it was at the perfect time for some specific need that had arisen.
Does that mean I’ve never stressed out? No, definitely not. I sure have.
See, faith in God’s provision is really faith in God’s timing.
Matthew 6:30 “And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?”
Trust His timing for every season
2. Faith for the Storm
Now, Jesus had just had a big day of healing a leper, the centurions servant, Peter’s mother in law, casting out many demons…
Then, verse 18 of Matthew 8 says, “And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing! 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?””
Think about those last few words that the disciples spoke after Jesus had performed this miracle, “Who can this be…”
The issue with their faith here is that they didn’t yet have a full revelation of who Jesus was!
Faith for the storms of life comes from knowing who Jesus is.
I remember a story from many years ago of a man who was out sailing and ran into stormy weather. He had to go out on deck in the midst of it to secure some items and he clipped himself on with a rope as he went out. The storm was intense and turned the boat completely upside down. Under the water, he began to panic and reached for the clip to set himself loose and try to swim free, but he stopped. The thought went through his mind of his training and how he had been taught, “Never unclip in a storm.” His hand came off the clip and right then the boat lunged and righted itself again. Had he unclipped, he would still be under the boat and more than likely, not alive to tell the tale.
Remember your training… remember who Jesus is.
Who do you need Jesus to be for you in the midst of your storm right now?
Prophet, priest & King, healer, redeemer, intercessor, Son of God, Son of Man, Lamb of God, Advocate, Almighty, Alpha & Omega, Author of our salvation, Bread of Life, Good Shepherd, the Door, Head of the Church, Heir of all things, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Light of the world, Man of Sorrows, True Light, & the Word of God
Maybe you just need the Prince of Peace to sit down next to you and give you some of that peace that surpasses all understanding…?
You’re out on the boat right now and the waves are rising. Your ready to cry out, “Lord, save me! I’m perishing! ”
Jesus turns to you and says, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He stands and rebukes the winds and the sea, and brings a great calm.
Never. Unclip. In. A. Storm.
3. Faith for Stepping Out
Peter walks on water.
I love this story. We can all see ourselves in Peter in at least one of his ‘situations’.
Matthew 14:25 “Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”“
This story has become synonymous with getting out of your comfort zone and taking a leap of faith.
If you want to walk on water you’ve got to get out of the boat.
And that’s exactly what Peter did.
- Lord if it’s you – He sought confirmation and received it.
- Peter walked towards Jesus – If you’re going to get out of a boat in the middle of a lake, good idea.
- He trusted to a point. When it got messy, he got scared. He still needed a revelation of who Jesus was.
- He cried out when he was beginning to sink, “Lord, save me!” That was his little faith.
- Jesus reacted immediately by reaching out his hand and speaking to him.
We need to have faith to step out and do the things in our lives, whatever that may be. We’re going to see the wind and waves but we can walk towards Jesus and when our faith doesn’t cut it we cry out to Him!
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
4. Faith That Brings Understanding
“But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?”
This is a classic…
Jesus had just been dealing with the Pharisees and Sadducees who were trying to trip him up and “that He would show them a sign from heaven.” “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign …”, he responds.
Once him and the disciples are away, He tells his disciples to beware of the leaven of the pharisees. And they reasoned among themselves saying, “It’s because we didn’t bring any bread.”
We would’ve said, “You idiots”. Jesus, thankfully, is a bit more compassionate and tactful.
O you of little faith, you still don’t get it. It’s nothing to do with bread.
Even though this statement Jesus made had nothing to do with bread, their mind instantly stressed out that we don’t have this right now.
They hadn’t learnt from the past!
Instead of remembering the 5 loaves of the 5000, or the 7 loaves of the 4000 and how much there was left over.
What they should’ve said was, “Wait, is he talking about bread? Can’t be! Remember the 5000 and the 4000? Ah, he was just talking with the Pharisees…”
I put to you that being sure of God’s provision frees up your mind to see things the way God sees them.
Paul says in Philippians 4:12
“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation…”
Paul says, “I have learned.”
When you were born the only thing you knew how to do was scream. You didn’t even know how to drink to survive – yo’ mama had to point you in the right direction for that!
When we take concern for our lives we’re telling God that we don’t need him and we can do it on our own… and then we stress out about how hard it is…
So stop misinterpreting situations by focusing on the incidentals and get big picture with faith.
You can learn to trust in every situation just like Paul had.
“O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves …”
Conclusion:
If you’ve been sowing seeds of doubt and unbelief, here’s the bad news from the Word of God:
Galations 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,”
That means that if you’re sowing doubt, unbelief and worry, you will reap fear, anxiety, and struggle.
Here’s the good news: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. … he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
That means that you can change what you’re sowing RIGHT NOW.
This very second you can begin to sow faith and trust and begin to reap abundance, strength, peace, joy, goodness, gentleness, self-control.
God is a much more committed Gardener than most of us are. He is able to weed our garden bed as soon we choose to plant those good seeds.
Galations 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
The key takeaway from all of this, is that if you feel you’re in that place where Jesus would say to you, “O you of little faith”, then say, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”
The fact is that you do have a little faith. Don’t look down on that fact or condemn yourself for it, use it! Plant better seeds and believe God for a good harvest.
Plant better seeds in your life, relationships, mind, heart, work…
Seeds of faith.
Be Blessed & Be a Blessing.
Graham T Byles