Thinking About Faith This Morning...

Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God but how much faith pleases God?

In Matthew 14 and starting in verse 22 Jesus sent the disciples out on a boat while He went to pray.  When he was done praying it was the wee hours of the following morning and the boat had drifted a considerable distance out on the sea.  Jesus then walked across the waves in the early morning mist illuminated by the moon and stars.  The disciples saw His figure walking towards them and thought perhaps they were seeing a ghost and were terrified and began crying out in their fear.

The first point that I am considering is.... the disciples thought He was a ghost?  When they should have known better they immediately assumed the worst and began bemoaning their fate.  So typical of us.  We need to look for God in every situation and we will find Him there.  

Jesus could have been disappointed in them but He knows and understands our fears and called out to calm them by identifying Himself and telling them not to be afraid.  Yet still the fear was there.  Peter tested Jesus by saying, "if it is you, command me to come to you and I will join you."  Peter had the faith to move on Jesus command but not the faith to move on his own in Jesus direction.  He stepped out of the safety of the boat onto the sea.

I can only imagine how that felt.  As a human he must have had so many thoughts racing through his mind....some of those thoughts I imagine went something like this, "I can't believe I am doing this.... I can't believe I am walking on top of the water!"  As soon as his thinking turned to recognition of his own efforts he began to notice the waves and the wind and began to sink.  Jesus responded by telling Peter he had little faith and reaching out to him.

How much faith pleases God?  

I will tell you how much.... complete faith pleases God.  Faith that moves us and in turn moves mountains.  James 2:17-22 says that faith without works is dead.... ineffectual.... if you say you have faith but will not step out of the boat.... your faith is of no benefit.  In these scriptures it goes on to say that when Abraham moved forward to sacrafice his own son, his actions and his belief worked together to make his faith complete.  Believe in your heart and act on that belief, let your faith and your actions walk hand in hand and that is complete faith.  That is the faith that pleases God.

I don't want little faith.  I don't want faith that makes me test God before stepping out of the boat.  I don't want sinking faith.... the kind that initiates me to movement only until the waters become rough.  I want big faith.... complete faith.  I want the kind of faith that makes me jump out of the boat and run across the water to my waiting Lord.  I don't just want enough faith to begin my journey.... I want the faith to finish and to be victorious.