Believing in a Big God for Big Things:
The second in Calvary’s series of Core Values is Faith: Believing in a big God for big things. Sometimes it’s easier to relegate faith to what happens between our right and left ears. Christians are people who believe that Jesus died for our sins and are therefore saved. But that’s only where faith is supposed to begin.
All of Israel demonstrated a believing faith in God. Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was no exception. Pastor Wayne pointed out, however, that Jesus marveled at their unbelief—which kept him from giving them miraculous and wonderful gifts (Mark 6:5-6).
The people who knew God and knew Jesus from childhood were missing out on great things because their faith was too small. What attitudes could be causing us to miss out on God’s greatness and how can we know? Below are four characteristics of small faith and the opposite mindset that corrects it.
- Your faith might be too small if you live in disappointment with the way your life turned out. Disappointment is a faith killer because it assumes the story begins and ends with us. The people of Nazareth were disappointed with Jesus—He was not fitting their expectations of reality and they were closed to the possibility that their experience was wrong. People who believe in a big God for big things, don’t deny reality; they hold open the door for God to grant a new reality.
- Your faith might be too small if you are always looking at the latest fad. There is nothing new under the sun—only new packaging. Helpful tips, whether for our health, finances, relationships, or emotions are potentially useful tools, but they are not blueprints for our lives. These, instead, come from God. People who believe in a big God for big things are dependent on God’s direction through prayer.
- Your faith might be too small if comfort is your default. Humanly speaking, comfort and security do not require faith. The reality of God in our lives pushes our limits from the inside out, challenging us to serve when we would rather rest, befriend who we would otherwise reject, and surrender what we would rather keep. People who believe in a big God for big things exchange comfort for effort.
- Your faith might be too small if you live in fear of change or loss. When we fear change, we believe that the status quo is as good as it gets. We tend to view the world with myopic vision, managing only what is right before our eyes and rejecting vision for a better future that is intended for our good. What do you expect? People who believe in a big God for big things are people who learn to expect big things from God.