How is your faith holding up in these uncertain times?

I used to wish I had greater faith, and that my lack of faith was an embarrassing weakness. But in his book, Christ for Real, Charles W. Price tells a beautiful story illustrating the fact that the size of our faith is not of huge importance.

As a young man, Charles took his first airplane ride. Excited and nervous, he was seated between an elderly woman and a businessman. The woman became extremely anxious throughout the ride cringing at the turbulence and clinging to her armrests while the businessman slept peacefully trusting the plane would reach its intended destination.

Each person had a different amount of faith in the ability of the plane to deliver them to their destination. Charles described the woman as having faith the size of a mustard seed– very little at all – while the businessman had faith the size of a watermelon. Charles decided his own faith in the plane was the size of a potato.

But in the end, he noted an important fact: they ALL reached their destination. The only question was: who enjoyed the ride?

In Matthew 17:20 (ESV), Jesus tells his disciples, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.”

Jesus is pointing out that it’s not the size of our faith that matters, but where, and in whom, we put it. A little faith in the RIGHT thing is much better than a lot of faith in the WRONG thing.

What sweet relief! Jesus is not expecting me to have great faith, but He is asking for me to work with the faith I have. The businessman had great faith in the airplane because experience had taught him it was trustworthy. In the same way, the longer I walk with Jesus and experience His love and grace, the more I trust Him with my fears and doubts.

Friend, if your faith is feeling short in supply, remember the size of it matters not as much as having placed it in the One who is trustworthy.