How much faith?

How much faith is enough? Is it even right to "quantify faith," or to question the level of faith of another? What exactly is faith?

These are some of the questions I find myself wondering about as I ponder faith and what other people tell me I should have. The way that some people speak about faith, it is some mystical experience that no one can fully describe - but everyone should have. I have seen people who I thought had great faith wither when they actually had to put it into action and others - others who I might have thought frail, suddenly stand ...

I think my understanding of faith is best summed up by the word trust. Perhaps the phrase "trust in action" is better. To have faith in something is to be willing to trust it. I can trust the bridge I go across, the plane I fly in, and the boat I'm in to cross the water. I put my weight on it, my safety in "its hands." It's not just belief, but a belief that causes a reaction in me. If I am on a train track and you tell me that a train is coming, if I truly believe you, I will move (assuming I am of sound mind and want to live). If a stranger tells me this, I may want some confirmation, but if my friend tells me this, I'll believe them on the basis of our relationship. So to have faith in Christ, but not have your life change or not care about what he says or the things he cares about seems to me to be a spurious faith. On the other hand, scripture tells us that "If you confess with your mouth that Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." So I don't want to add anything beyond what scripture tells us. I just think that if you believe like this, your life will change ...

But how much faith do we need? Jesus told us that "faith as small as a mustard seed" could remove mountains. To me, that seems like he is saying that we should not get hung up about the amount of faith one has - the smallest amount is "effective." But it's got to be faith in the right thing. Small faith in Christ moves mountains. Great faith in a falsehood does nothing ultimately of value.

Some people seem to value "faith in faith." This is most easily seen when people start talking about"having enough faith," or urging someone to have more faith in order to get their heart's desire. This seems to come out of the same family as positive thinking - if you just think the right things or believe it enough, your dream will come true ...

I believe in god's absolute sovereignty, and therefore don't believe that we change his plans by our performance - whether we pray enough, etc. And yet, God works through means. He has ordained that he will accomplish his will through the prayers of his people. So, when we pray, things are actually getting accomplished - not through some mystical connection of power between our prayers and the situation, but through the direct, ordained means of God answering His people's prayers in order to accomplish his will.

And yet, we are tole "You have not, because you ask not." So there does seem to be a connection between our prayers and what happens. We all know the man who said "I believe. Help my unbelief." So we are a mixture of belief and unbelief - of trust in Christ and trust in ourselves ...
Jesus rebuked the disciples when they were "men of little faith." So, there is apparently a real sense in which our faith comes in "quantities." And yet, it doesn't take much faith to move mountains ...

I don't know where this is heading for me, but right now, I really question the use of guilt to motivate people to a) have more faith and b) have more faith in our plans so that God might fulfill our desires.

All this to say that I think if we have any faith in Christ, it is enough. Yet we are to grow in faith and knowledge. We are not coming to God, mustering up our faith in faith to get we want from the divine vending machine to spend on our desires and lusts. I would love to have pure motives, to want His will to be done, for that is always best. I'd rather not have a
God who bent his will to mine - I should not be in charge of the universe. I'd mess it up in a second. I can't even get my life straight ... Thanh you, Lord, that you say no to many of our prayers ... give us a clearer vision of you that our trust might increase as we travel through life ... for your name's sake.