What's Limiting Your Faith? It's Hurting You More Than You Think
I saw this on an Instagram post and it’s been resonating in my spirit ever since.“God isn’t checking for your bank account, He’s checking for your faith.” When God calls us to do something bigger than ourselves He's not looking at our finances, ability, social status, etc.. He's looking at our faith. It challenged me to evaluate my own lack of faith in certain areas of my life. How many times do I pray or ask for things according to my ability instead of God’s? How often do I believe something is impossible simply because I don’t have the money or the resources to make it happen? These are the questions I began to ask myself, and here’s the conclusion I came to.
It shouldn’t be this way. As Christians, we are called to believe the impossible can happen because all things are possible with God. We are called to walk by faith and not lean on our own understanding. We won’t see God do exceedingly and abundantly more in our lives if we don’t believe He can. It’s up to us to live by faith so that we can experience God do what only He can do.
That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:5NIV
The Power of Your Thoughts
Now you might be thinking, “God doesn’t need me to perform a miracle, He’s God!” and you’re right. God is all powerful and people can't limit Him. However, my point is this: lack of faith doesn’t limit God, it limits us. Our lack of faith limits our ability to receive what God wants to do in our lives, not God’s ability to accomplish it.
God is a provider, right? If He calls you to give sacrificially of your finances, but you’re too afraid to do so, you’ll miss the opportunity to grow in faith and see God truly provide; to learn that it’s not your work ethic or your employer who pays your bills. You won’t find a godly spouse if you don’t have the faith to believe one exists. Why? Because you’ll talk yourself into settling.
What Faith Looks Like
God calls us to walk by faith so we’ll rely on and draw closer to Him. If we knew every step to take it wouldn't be faith and God wouldn’t get the glory. We’d think we accomplished these things on our own. I love the story in Matthew of Jesus healing the blind men. It illustrates the call to walk by faith so well.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them,“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said,“According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. - Matthew 9:27-30 NIV
According to your faith let it be done. According to OUR faith, it will be done in our lives.
Recently I took a HUGE leap of faith. I picked up my entire life, left my job, my church, and everything I knew to move to a new city because…God told to me. He didn’t tell me why, He just said go. I wrestled with Him for confirmation (which I got) and for a reason (which I didn’t get), but at the end of the day I held my breathe and took the leap. I came to the conclusion that the unknown path with God is safer and better than any path without Him.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
What’s limiting your faith?
It is a lack of trust, fear or doubt? Is it difficult to believe God can fulfill your deepest desire because so far He hasn’t? If so, I encourage you to spend more time with Him and get to know His character. Until you know God intimately, you’ll struggle with surrendering to Him. You’ll trust His plans for you are good when you truly know that He is good.
Or maybe it's your surroundings. It’s crucial to guard yourself from people or things that cause you to think negatively and doubt God’s power. You don’t need that in your life. Faith is hard enough with the right people in your corner! If you're unsure about what’s holding you back, ask God. He’s faithful to give us wisdom when we ask for it (James 1:5 NIV).
Related Post: Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant
Lastly, I want you to know that experiencing God’s power in your life doesn’t require grandiose faith. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 that faith the size of mustard seed can move a mountain. What matters is that you believe enough to take a step. Think about the Apostle Peter. He had enough faith to climb out of the boat and walk on water, but half-way in He doubted. But Jesus didn’t let drown, He caught Him and He’ll catch you. Trust God enough to step out and He’ll meet you there.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. - Hebrews 11:6 NIV