WATCHWORD:
And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Matthew 8:26
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:40
Meditation:
Faith Part 1. Ye of Little Faith
Let’s talk faith. In fact, let’s touch on faith for today and the next two Watchwords. Buckle up!
I got to thinking about this subject of faith, and I believe all of us who are reading these Watchwords profess faith in our Lord. I have a great deal of empathy for the disciples, for they were going through a difficult phase of growing up into their faith, the same tract that we’ve all experienced or we are experiencing now. It was hard for us to trust something we could not see, cannot feel and have not watched as it had an impact on our lives.
I’ve heard some people saying that if they had been there to watch the miracles of Jesus, as the disciples did, they would have had no doubt! Really? Pardon my skepticism.
Let’s see: You’re in a boat on the open seas, in the midst of a storm, you’re fearful for your lives. Here comes Jesus, walking to you on the water! Holy mackerel! It’s a ghost! Think about that, I can only imagine that some of the disciples were hustling around trying to figure out how this happened. Did we miss the rocks that are strewn across the sea of Galilee that allowed him to walk toward us? There’s got a be a reason for it. The seed of faith is being planted.
Here’s another one: Jesus has been teaching to a crowd near Bethesda. It’s getting late, people are hungry. The disciples say send them away! Jesus says “Feed them!” and the crowd is fed. Can’t you just imagine what is going through their minds? “It’s a trick! How did He do that?” But they begin to put together what they had seen, what they had witnessed, and the seed of faith begins to grow. Is that a sprout?
I doubt whether Jesus had second thoughts about who He selected as disciples, maybe Judas, but I doubt even that. When He said O you of little faith, it wasn’t said as a derogatory, it was a measure of where they were in their faith development. Yes, their faith was new, but Jesus knew, long before Erik Erickson, that it was a stage, a phase, and He would strengthen them. He saw beyond the bend in the road, He knew what was coming.
What about you and me? Where are we in our faith development? Does the Holy Spirit dominate our lives? Jesus stands beside you. What does he say about our faith? Too much noun and not enough verb? Time to have a “Come to Jesus Moment?” A candid and honest conversation with Our Father? He tells us, “I am the way, the truth and the life”, and we take that into our heart, the foundation of our faith. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, I believe, but help with my unbelief! Help my head and my heart and my soul to believe in you and trust in you fully, without a doubt, knowing that in you all things are possible. Lord, strengthen my faith! Amen.
