By Kelly Carr, Interim Editor

Faith can be intimidating. It sounds like an attribute only the super-spiritual can attain. Some people seem to have an abundance of faith; at times we don’t feel like we have enough. 

There’s even an entire chapter of the Bible dedicated to people who showed great faith. Read through Hebrews 11 sometime when you want to feel inadequate. Of course I don’t believe that intimidation is the purpose of this section of Scripture. In fact, it should make us feel better about ourselves, not worse. Because the secret of Hebrews 11 is this—the people listed there are all flawed, regular human beings, just like you and me.

Regular People Have Great Faith

Let’s look at a few of the ordinary individuals in this faith hall of fame. They certainly weren’t perfect:

• Noah persevered in faith during the flood, but he overindulged in alcohol after he got off the boat.

• Patriarch Abraham didn’t always have solid faith. He first tried to create an heir his own way instead of waiting on God’s plan.

• Moses had faith in God, but he murdered someone and fled the country before growing into his leadership role.

• We are aware of Rahab’s former occupation. Yet that didn’t prevent God from blessing her faith and allowing her to become an ancestor of Jesus.

• While we’re on a roll, Gideon kept doubting until he had signs from God, Barak was scared to lead the military into battle, and David had women issues. 

When we break down their stories, we see that these men and women were not superheroes but mere mortals. They didn’t have fierce faith their entire lives or leap tall buildings in a single bound. They made mistakes. As will we. But they had enough faith to return to God, sins and all, believing he would forgive. They stepped up to do hard things, even when it took some convincing. We can do the same.

Great Faith Comes in Stages

A friend of mine once told me, “I’m glad Jesus said we can have faith as small as a mustard seed because that’s all I have right now.”

Have you had those days? When life brings despair, you look around and wonder what it’s all about. Yet somewhere deep inside, you know that God is worthy of your trust and somehow he has a plan. That’s mustard-seed faith.

Jesus promised that God would take mustard-seed faith and act in mighty ways, even moving mountains. From a small seed, a large tree grows, bit by bit. That’s God’s plan for our faith.

So don’t give up. Whatever morsel of faith you have right now, start from there.

The exciting thing is: faith changes us. When we put a small amount of faith in God and then we see what he does with it, we will want more.

So what are you waiting for? Talk to God right now. Let him know what struggles stand in the way of your faith. Commit the bit of faith you do have into his hands and ask him to make it grow. I think you’ll be amazed by what he does.