Today’s Post By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
While on vacation at Maui (one of the Hawaiian Islands), our family decided to take the infamous road to Hanna—a meandering two lane road that leads you along the Pacific coast and up the side of a mountain. The spectacular views from this vantage point offer travelers one breathtaking sight after another.
Along our journey we approached a sharp bend in the road and noticed a few local residents standing along the edge of a cliff. Curious to know what was captivating these islanders attention, we pulled the car off to the side of the road to get a closer look. We quickly realized these local residents were not there to look—they were there to jump.
In amazement we watched these fearless daredevils jump through a narrow passageway between jagged rocks and plummet into a minuscule pool of water below. It was a suicide mission as far as I was concerned, but to these local risk-takers it was great fun. It was obvious they had done this many times before and knew exactly how, when, and where to jump. As experienced cliff divers, they would have certainly tested the waters before jumping off the cliff the first time around.
Sometimes we look at the faith journey of others and think to ourselves: There’s no way I could do what they are doing. How can they have so much faith?
We must remember that faith develops over time. If we see someone taking a giant leap of faith, we can be sure that their faith journey has been tested time and time again by taking smaller steps along the way.
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (Luke 17:5) Even the apostles asked to have their faith increased, and they were with Jesus every day. As Jesus’ constant companions, they saw Him perform miracles firsthand, and yet they still had moments of doubt and uncertainty.
In Matthew 17:20-21, Jesus compares our faith to a mustard seed. He says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Mustard seeds are very tiny when they are first planted, yet they develop into very sizable bushes when mature. Like mustard seeds, when we give God even a little bit of our faith, He takes it and makes it grow and mature.
God increases our faith through tests and trials. These faith builders help prepare us to fulfill God’s plan and purpose throughout our lives.
Like those cliff divers, the Lord gives us plenty of opportunities to test the waters before He asks us to jump all the way in.