Faith in God

Reflection on Luke 17:5-10

The apostles asked Jesus to "increase their faith. The V meaning of Jesus' response is that the efficacy of faith does not depend on its quantity, its size, its volume. but rather on its quality, its worth. Consequently, the apostles did not need to have the volume of their faith increased. What they needed was for their faith be as solid, compact, unbroken as a mustard seed. That was a very small seed indeed; but even faith that was no bigger than that could uproot a tree move mountains, and do much more.

There is a popular notion that faith is something you do with your head. That is not correct. Rather, faith is something you do with your heart. It is an emotion of the heart. Its other name is trust. When you trust someone or something, you have faith in that person or thing. Something in you tells you that you can depend on that person or thing; that they will not let you down or fail you.

If we are normal human beings, we must trust someone. If we cannot trust anyone, there is something wrong with us; we are not normal. But we also know that we cannot trust any human being 100%. Experience will have taught us that even our most trusted relatives or friends can fail us. The reason is very simple: they are only human. Because they are human, they are limited. There is a limit to what they can be or do for us. As a result, even with the best of intentions, they can fail us when we least expect them to do so. That must have been the reason why the Prophet Jeremiah made a particularly strong statement about people who place their trust in human beings. He said: "Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength" (Jer. 17:5).

God is different. He is infinite. There is no limit to what he can be or do for us. He is the only one we can trust 100%. He will never let us down; he cannot let us down. It is not in his character. That is why we can have absolute trust in him, and our faith in him can be as solid and unbroken as a mustard seed. With that kind of faith in God, we shall be able to move mountains. Again, the Prophet Jeremiah had something to say on that. He said: "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord" (Jer. 17:7).