You Can’t Stir Up Faith

Well, it’s a great day sho’-nuff’, friend! You done came wanderin’ on up here to this ol’ front porch and have done picked yourself out a chair that’s plum seen more comin’s and goin’s than a squirrel highway that stretches right across them rafters up there. I’m sure glad you decided to be droppin’ in for a lil’ ol’ spell. Some truths just land better when we talk ‘em out where the breeze smells like honeysuckle and the porch boards creak like they’re plum tryin’ real hard to say, “Amen.” You know, Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” That there verse reminds us that faith ain’t just somethin’ we can cook up like a pot of warm grits. It’s a real special gift sent plum straight from the Lord Himself.

Friend, have you ever tried to talk yourself into believin’ something? You repeat, “I believe, I believe, I believe,” like you are tryin’ to convince a stubborn ol’ mule that the barn door is already wide open. But faith ain’t about positive thinkin’. You can’t manufacture faith. You can’t be tryin’ to strain for it. You can’t be borrowin’ it from your mama, your pastor, or the neighbor that prays louder than an ol’ rooster crows at sunrise. Romans 10:17 tells us, “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Faith plum begins with God, grows through God, and is sustained by God.

The disciples learned this the real hard way. They plum lost their faith more than once, usually at the exact moment a storm rolled in or a crowd got real rowdy. Hebrews 12:2 explains why. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Jesus restored those disciples every single time. He didn’t scold ‘em for not workin’ a whole lot harder. He simply poured back into ‘em what they couldn’t produce on their own. Psalm 73:26 adds another layer of truth. It says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Faith ain’t your achievement. It’s His gift.

And that’s real good news. You don’t have to conjure up belief like you are tryin’ to be startin’ a fire with damp matches. You come to God empty handed, and you ask Him to give you what you can’t give yourself. He delights in meetin’ you right there where you are.

Father, thank You for giving us faith when we cannot find it on our own. Teach us to stop striving and start receiving. Strengthen our hearts, steady our minds, and help us trust You when life makes no sense. Pour into us what only You can give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Well, there it is, friend! Don’t you be wearin’ yourself out by tryin’ to work up faith like a lil’ ol’ squirrel tryin’ to outrun its own shadow.. Faith ain’t ever earned. It’s plum received. Let God fill you, shape you, and steady you. And long after all them lil’ ol’ fireflies git real tired and go to bed when the night has settled down real quiet, you’ll find that His blessed gift of faith is still holdin’ you mighty firm, so much stronger than any effort you could ever even begin to muster all by yourself.

With joy,

Gwen