“In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.” (Acts 14:8–10, NIV84)

When I was at the seminary we had to do “field work” as part of our studies. We needed to work at a local church, do readings, preach a sermon here and there, visit people who were sick and couldn’t leave home. It was a chance to do some of the things a pastor has to do on a daily basis. It gave us a chance to actually put into practice some of the things we were being taught. One day I went to the hospital to visit a man who was fighting infections after his surgery. As I was walking in, a man walked past me. He was visiting the person on the other side of the curtain. As I was visiting, I could hear the other person in the room whimpering. After I finished praying with the man I was visiting I went past the curtain to see the other person. It was a girl in her late teens. I asked her whether she was alright, whether there was anything I could do. She then proceeded to tell me that the reason she was crying was that the man who had just visited her was her pastor, and he told her that the reason she wasn’t well was that she didn’t have enough faith. My heart sunk! Not enough!?!?

What does healing have to do with the amount or quantity of my faith? Didn’t Jesus Himself say that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed we could say to a mountain “move into the sea” and it would? Why are we so quick to bind the consciences of God’s people? It is not about having “enough” faith! It is about having faith at all. That day, I assured the young lady that her healing was not being withheld because she didn’t have enough faith. I told her that God certainly did hear her prayers and her healing was more about God’s timing than anything else. But what about you? Is there any place in your life that someone has twisted what faith is all about and you feel bound, guilty and hopeless? If so, be assured today that God simply looks for faith to be present, not the quantity or volume of the faith that is there.

Know today that a little bit of faith is enough!

Peace!

Pastor Tom