Faith. Who, me? What, and how?

After identifying and assessing my personal gifts, I really got stuck on faith. I am not boasting because I, honestly, think the questions were wrong or I am not being honest with myself in regards to my faith. It was only just over three years ago, I remember crying and panicking because I was a new mother, discussing Adam's deployment at the time with my sister, Denee. I was terrified to lose my husband, terrified to raise a child without a father, and I was panicking, not just worried, panicking. This is just evidence of my fear, worry and overall lack of faith. So, today, I wanted to dig into faith. What is it, and how do we use it?

(Adam is now home, of course; he returned safely, unharmed, and there was A LOT of prayer that happened in the six months until he did come home after Caedmon's birth. Praise The Lord for his safety!)

What is faith?  Maybe this is an easy answer to you, but I wanted a definition. For that I looked at two sources, the wonderful dictionary-concordance in my bible and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and these are the definitions I found:

"Belief and trust in God; knowing that God is real, even though we  can't see him" NIV Dictionary-Concordance

"Strong believe or trust in someone or something" OR a "firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust." Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

As Christians, it is clear that our belief in God, in Jesus Christ, is based on faith. We initially come to our belief in Christ through faith, believing God exists, believing Christ died for our sins, believing he rose from the dead; all of that is faith, and we are made righteous in Christ through that faith (Romans 3:22). Faith is therefore a basis for our Christianity. Faith in Jesus Christ is our foundation.

Faith is a way of life, a lifelong journey. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, our journey of faith is only beginning; as we grow in our relationship with Christ, our growth demands more faith. Romans 1:17 says "the righteous shall live by faith." We continue in faith after our acceptance of Christ, trusting our life and change to Him.

Our faith deepens, it grows as we trust in God and allow him opportunities to do more than we ever imagined possible. 2 Peter 1:5 tells us to "supplement your faith" or add to your faith, and it goes on to list virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. Our faith is the building block for so much more in our lives. It's an opportunity to become more like Christ, which is really what our salvation and life in Christ should produce.

 In addition to our life becoming a journey of faith, faith produces. Faith should have results. Our faith without action is really not faith at all. "So also faith apart from works is dead." (James 2:26). Faith without action is worthless, it is dead; faith becomes powerless and without effect when it is not utilized. I doubted so greatly my abilities and God's capacity to use me, that I neglected beginning a blog or trying to write at all for over a year, nearly two years! I did not have faith that God could use me. You can see now that I have taken a step of faith, some action, by starting to write for God. And, I pray that God allows me to continue to grow in faith through this experience and those to come.

I'll close with two verses, share a Pinterest-found meme, and by simply saying that after this short study of faith, more than ever I feel incapable. However, I know God is able.

"If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed...nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13