Who Me, Gifted?Shembull

The Gift of Faith

All believers receive and actively use faith every day. Faith is like a muscle; as we exercise it more, it grows stronger. On the flip side, walking in our own strength rather than by faith causes our faith muscle to atrophy. All Christians must possess and exercise faith to grow into fullness and maturity in Christ.

There are, however, some people who have been given the Holy Spirit's gift of faith. These people see God's will as if it is already an accomplished fact. Examples of people gifted with this type of faith abound in the Bible.

When God told Nehemiah to build a wall, everyone was against him. Nehemiah's enemies tried to trick him and his own people doubted him, but he continued to build the wall because he had faith in God.

Pharaoh's heart was hardened and time after time he refused to let the Israelites go. Moses endured because he had faith that God would carry them safely out of the land of slavery and into the Promised Land, though at the time that seemed impossible.

Joseph was given a dream from God that he survived being thrown into a pit, tempted by an immoral woman and abandoned for years in an Egyptian dungeon. His dream survived because it was God-given and not his own plan for himself. He never doubted God's ability to fulfill the dream given to him as a young man.

Though not everyone lives the extraordinary lives of these gifted believers, Christians today are still given the Holy Spirit's gift of faith. What an encouragement their faith is to the body of Christ to press forward and triumph despite opposition and obstacles.

Prayer: God, help me to know Your will for my life and to walk by faith every day. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20).