Building From “The Measure of Faith”
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man THE MEASURE OF FAITH.
Faith is a component of life that we have all been given according to the above scripture. When we work on a job, we have faith that at an appointed time, the employer will give us a paycheck and it will not bounce. We pay tuition at school, go to classes, do our assignments and when the work is done, we will get a diploma. When we walk on a floor or a sidewalk, we have faith that the floor or sidewalk will carry our weight, and we will reach our destination. God has distributed to us all “the measure of faith”. He further desires that we grow our capacity of “the measure of faith” into mountain-moving faith.
Again, the measure of faith is based primarily on proof-text. The employer giving a check for work done is based on a level of evidence that others have been paid for similar work. A school giving a diploma for studies completed is based on the evidence of others who have completed similar courses and received the certification they worked for. Others walking on that floor or sidewalk produces a measure of faith that says it will carry our weight.
The Bible gives us spiritual “evidence” of others putting their faith in God. Faith in God teaches us to put our eyes, our worship and service on our Heavenly Father. Faith declares He has a direction to share with us through the power of His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. The essence of Christianity is based on whom we place our faith (please read Mark 10:17-25). In this passage, Jesus placed focus on actionable faith in God. The rich young man used the measure of faith to produce wealth. Now Jesus challenged him to step into a move that would create physical and spiritual wealth. These challenges of the measure of faith can create fear. When we learn to apply the measure He gives us to faith in God, we can move through any struggle because it is not what we believe in, but WHOM we believe. Fear of faith can occur when evidence is challenged. We see a bridge collapse. An employer’s checks don’t clear; a diploma doesn’t carry the accreditation it should. We question what we put our faith in. When we have broken relationships, and our trust has been violated we may have a difficult time putting total faith in God. The adversary tries to use hurts and violations of our “measure of faith” as evidence that God won’t come through for us. The only thing worse than having our trust violated is never trusting again. We must take up our “measure” and turn it towards God and believe by the evidence of the Word that we can trust Him (Heb. 11). Number 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? The Bible is full of ordinary people who took evidence of the Word of God and applied it to actionable circumstances (Josh. 2:1-15; 6:23-25). Rahab, a woman who was the queen of the Red-Light District of Jericho “heard” about the God of Israel and declared that their hearts did melt at the mention of the evidence of God. She took that evidence and mixed it with her “measure” of faith and turned it into salvation for her and her entire family. Can we take the evidence of the Word and of others and apply it to our “measure”? HAVE FAITH IN GOD!! Let us turn what we have been given into actionable, mountain-moving faith in God.
