A Smidgeon of Faith

“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

~1 Peter 1:8-9

I remember when I was a little girl my cousins and I played with dolls. We spoke for them, made up places they went, events that happened, and married Barbie and Ken over and over again. It was called ‘make believe’ and as a parent, I listened as my kids played games of make believe. A chair and pillow became a car, a cardboard box was a treasure chest spilling gold and jewels onto the ground, and my kids were teachers, doctors, cowboys, and Indians. Make believe is great fun. It’s when we get older that we realize make believe is for kids and we have to face the reality of being a responsible adult. But what happens when we are told Jesus is make believe? We pray to a God we can’t see, we wait for miracles from a Lord that isn’t visible, and we hope for salvation that will be fulfilled when He returns, or we die and go to a place called Heaven. How do we reconcile ourselves to believing in what many call ‘make believe’ when it comes to the Bible?

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven’ (Matthew 18:1-4).”

Children are so trusting and have no hang ups about being honest and open. I remember when my son, Michael, was being potty trained. My husband was in prison, so the only man around was my next-door neighbor. I asked him to help me, so he took my son out back and showed him how to pee on a tree. Michael was tree trained from that day forward. One day, we were walking downtown and there were trees planted at the edge of the sidewalk every so often, and I noticed Michael was no longer beside me. I turned around and there’s my son with his pants at his knees, watering the tree. Of course, he was three at the time and passersby chuckled. My son had no shame, no fear of reprisal, and he wasn’t embarrassed. That’s how we believe in Jesus—without shame or embarrassment no matter what anyone else might say.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:17-18).” 

I have been mocked and ridiculed for my faith. Once or twice it hurt my feelings but in the long run, those are the people I pray for the most. I know their minds have been blinded to the truth of Jesus Christ. It takes just a smidgeon of faith to be saved by confessing Christ is Lord, and I pray for everyone to have just that much faith because I know if they take that first shaky step, the Holy Spirit will multiply that faith more and more with each successive step. And with faith comes hope, peace and joy in what we cannot see with our eyes but with our spirit.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in Heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:7-10).”

Read Job 17-21; Ephesians 1

©2018 Marie McGaha