One Day Faith

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"
-Matthew 25:21
     I'm excited to write this post because the idea I want to present is so practical. I hope you are able to not only learn but also apply what you read today.
     I would consider myself a results-driven person. If I see the results that I am looking for, the process by which the results were achieved is not really that important to me (unless it's unethical or something like that). I think that with the invention of the internet we have become accustomed to getting results quickly. We no longer have to look in a dictionary to define a word; we can just google the word. We can communicate almost instantaneously through email. The internet has given us the ability to get results very quickly, which for the most part is a good thing.
     However, not everything can be achieved quickly. God has been teaching me over the past couple months that faith is not instantaneous. I wrote a blog post about this very topic a couple months ago. I've heard multiple sermons about this idea. I read about it in the book "Rooted" by Banning Liebscher. In my weekly group Bible study we have talked about it more than once. I even gave a message to my church's youth group on the topic of building faith.
     Despite all of these different ways God has been speaking to me, I didn't really appreciate the truth of this principle until recently. When I used to think about faith, I always imagined that people with great faith were just able to find faith when they needed it. When I read about characters in the Bible with great faith, I always focused on the results of their faith. When I read about Daniel, I was amazed that he found faith to trust God in the midst of the lion's den. When I read about David, I was impressed at his faith to face Goliath.
     What I never understood until now is that these people didn't just find faith one day. Daniel was able to trust God in the lion's den because he prayed three times a day to God before he was thrown in the den. Before David ever knew who Goliath was, he was faithful to shepherding his father's animals. It's so easy for us to focus on the results of faith because that is part of faith that we want to experience. However, we can never have the results of faith without first growing our faith.
     I have been working at my current job for about 3 months now, and I realized that you cannot finish a project if you only focus on the end result. I work at a semiconductor company as a test engineer. Without getting too detailed, my responsibility is to develop a test program that will verify the performance of the products my company develops. If I only ever thought about the final test program, I would fail to ever complete the project. Of course, I need to have the final result in mind, but before I can reach the final result I have to go through the process of defining each test and writing code for each test.
     What I learned from my experience at work is that you need to have both purpose and goals. Your purpose is what guides you; your goals are what keep you on your purpose. When I don't have clear and attainable goals at work, it's really hard for me to contribute to the project. When my goals are both clear and attainable, I am much more productive. Even though it may seem that what I am doing is insignificant when you look at the whole project, everything I do is important for the final result.
     The verse written at the beginning of this post refers to a parable that Jesus told. A master is going out of town, so he gives three of his servants some money. The first two servants are able to double the amount of money given to them by the time the master comes back. The last servant does not do anything with the money entrusted to him. The master is delighted in the first two servants because they increased the amount of money given to them. He is angry at the last servant because the servant does nothing with his money.
     When I read this passage in the past, I never really appreciated one small detail in Matthew 25:19. It says that the master came back "after a long time". Do you think that the first two servants were able to double the money given to them in one day? Two days? Three? Of course not! They must have spent weeks or months putting the money to work and earning more. The master is not only upset with the last servant because he didn't do anything with the money: he is upset because the servant did nothing over a long stretch of time.
     If you have studied this passage before, you know that the master represents God Himself. Perhaps Jesus is trying to teach us through this parable that we have to continually work at our faith. He has given us what we need to build our faith. Are we doing all that we can to build our faith, even if it seems slow?
     At the last Bible study I attended, the leader said a phrase that I really took to heart- "one day". I have changed it to "one day faith". One day faith refers to the faith that you build in one day. Instead of only focusing on the long-term result of faith, we should focus on faith for one day. How do we do this? I said it earlier- focus on clear and attainable goals.
     I've always wanted to have a faith that is impressive. I wanted to have faith that could heal people, prophesy, or lead people to Christ. What I've been realizing is that I can never do these things until I grow my faith everyday. I shouldn't focus on those things. Instead, I should focus on clear and attainable things, like reading the Bible, praying, or ministering to others. It may seem insignificant to read a chapter of the Bible, but if you do it everyday you will eventually read the whole Bible. It may seem insignificant to pray for 10 minutes a day, but eventually you will have talked with God for hours. It may seem insignificant to minister to one person a week, but eventually you will have spoken to many.
     This post has ended up being longer than I anticipated, but I think the message is clear. It's good to have big hopes for our lives and our faith. However, we must start with "one day faith". Our walk with God starts with one step. Then two, three, four, and so on. Our lives with God begin with one day. Focus on your one day faith, then see what God can do with your faith one day.
-Smart