How Much Faith is Enough Faith?

There is an idea floating around that if you have enough faith, God will heal you and/or those close to you that you are praying for. We pray and people still die or go on with chronic diseases. So how much faith is enough faith? When does the scale tip in our favor? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, 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 It must be pretty potent stuff! But how do we get enough of it to make a difference?

There was a centurion in Capernaum who had won favor with the Jews. He had built their synagogue. He had a servant who was sick and about to die, so he sent for Jesus asking him to come heal his servant. When Jesus was coming near the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’” Luke 7:6-8 This man understands authority and he obviously believes that Jesus has authority over sickness and death. He has heard what Jesus has been doing. He understands that the lame are walking, the blind are seeing, and the demons are cast out.

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.” Luke 7:9-10 The centurion believed Jesus had authority – he needed only to say the word. Jesus called it faith. I wonder if Jesus would have healed the servant if the centurion had approached Jesus with, “I don’t know if you can do it, but I’d appreciate if you’d give it a shot and try to heal my servant.”

As Jesus was coming to another village, he saw a dead person being carried out. He was the only son of a widow. This woman’s loss was great. Not only did she lose those she loved, there would be no welfare or Social Security check in the mail. She would likely become destitute. Who would take care of her? “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke 7:13-15 The woman and those with her had done nothing to demonstrate faith. They hadn’t even asked for anything. Yet Jesus had compassion on her and raised her son from the dead.

That just totally blows the formula: enough faith = healing. Hard as we try, we just can’t put God in a box. We can’t figure out how to get him to do what we want him to do on command. Ouch! Did I just say that?

I wonder if God gets annoyed with us when we ‘follow him around’ just to see what he will do next or just to see what we can get out of him. I don’t think he wants to be our ‘side show’ or our ‘Santa Claus’. Jesus shows us two important attributes of God in this passage in Luke: he has authority and he has compassion. He wants to heal us. I also believe that God doesn’t just want to be our ‘fixer’, but that he desires relationship with us. He wants to restore us to a good relationship with him. Just as he went looking for Adam and Eve in the Garden, he has sought after us. Just as he clothed them with fig leaves and animal skins, he wants to clothe us with his righteousness. Do I have enough faith to believe that he has authority over me and is a compassionate God? Do I desire to have an ongoing relationship with him or do I just want him to fix my problems when they arise?

God, I don’t want to ask you for anything today. I just want to tell you how much I love you and appreciate what you have already done for me. I want to give you a gift today – my life in service to you and those you love. Thank you for showing me that you are a God with authority and full of compassion. My desire is to walk side by side with you today. I love you.