The more I live life and the more I study God’s Word, I find that so much in life comes back to faith.

The Gospels are full of men and women who had extraordinary amounts of faith. Matthew tells us the story of two blind men who sat alongside a road who had more faith than most people. We don’t know any details about them than just those that—they were blind and they sat on the side of the road. We can assume that they were homeless, or at least outcasts. They had nothing. They could only rely on the pity of others to help them out.

Their Plan

We don’t know how old they were, how long they were blind, if they were related or just found themselves in similar straits. What we do know is that somehow they heard that Jesus was going to pass by. Whether or not they planned it or they both spontaneously decided to do it, they both began to shout. They shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.”

The crowd around them responded the way most crowds would today. They tried to get them to be quiet. But the Bible says they only shouted louder. Well, their plan works. Jesus stops in front of them and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Their Request

They respond, “Lord, we want to see.” Jesus takes compassion on them and instantly heals their eyes. After that, Matthew writes simply, “Then they followed him.” We don’t know for how long they followed him, but it was worth noting that they did.

Whenever I read this story, I am struck by their determination. It didn’t matter what anybody thought of them; they were willing to risk everything to get Jesus to heal them. Their desire to be healed mattered so much more than their pride.

I wonder how many of us let our pride or something else keep us back from getting serious with God. When was the last time we got serious with God and asked him, even begged him for something with no holds barred? When was the last time you begged God for something and wouldn’t let it go until He answered?

Our Faith

James tells just that if we’re going to come to God to ask for wisdom, we’d better come in faith without wavering.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord

James 1:5-7

Faith is so important to God. The more I read and study the Gospels, the more I am convinced that Jesus dealt with people according to their faith.

It always comes back to faith. We know this. We know that without faith, “it is impossible to please God.” Yet, we often forget and need to be reminded. God deals with us according to our faith. Our faith can be a big determining factor for how God works or doesn’t work in our lives. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my lack of faith to be the reason God doesn’t work on my behalf or my family’s behalf.

How to Increase our Faith

So how do we grow our faith? How do we know if our faith is strong enough to withstand a storm? The disciples had the same request. “Show us how to increase our faith.” Jesus answers them in an odd way. He turns to them and basically says, “If you had the tiniest amount of faith, even as small as a mustard seed, you could tell this tree to go jump in the lake, and it would obey.”

He’s exaggerating of course, but the idea is this: If you just have a little bit of faith, amazing things can happen. Why? Because it’s God we’re talking about. God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to Ephesians 3:20. We just have to do the first part…ask. And when we do ask, we have to ask in faith.

*Here’s a fun side note. Did you know? Mustard seed plants can grow to be twenty feet tall? Pretty amazing from such a tiny seed!

I don’t pretend to know how God works. Why he answers some prayers and leaves others seemingly unanswered. Why he meets some needs and seemingly not others. What I do know is that God will always work according to our faith, so let’s not give him any reason not to work in our lives. Let’s have the faith to believe that he’s going to come through for us in this season, just like he did in the last season. We may not see it yet, but we can believe it!

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post The Eight-Step Process of Faith. A great book on faith is The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.