He Has You

You were meant to walk in a higher faith. When you have placed yourself in the hands of God and have let go of all your wasteful striving, it is there that God can start to build your faith. It is after the clay form has been beaten down that the Lord then picks it up to form it right.

There is no such thing as a self-made man or woman in the Kingdom of God. “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make” (Jeremiah 18:4 NKJV).

We don’t increase our faith by the programs of man but by the hands of God. When once God has you in His grip, it will be there the work begins. The first stage is the hardest, in which the Lord reveals how weak our faith really is. It is never a pleasant thing to see ourselves as we really are.

Self-delusion is that plot of land that stands between how we see ourselves and how we really are. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT).

For the Lord to grow your faith, He must begin from wherever you are. What it takes to grow your faith does not depend on your strength but on your weakness. Strong Christians are rigid and slow to change. Weak Christians are pliable and willing to let God change them.

Be stubborn enough to never give up and pliable enough to let God help you. “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:36 NLT).

It is not the Christian that insists on growing their faith that will have a growing faith. Rather, it is the Christian that calls out to the Lord, asking that He would grow their faith for them. The Lord will pull you up when you reach up so that He can take hold of you.

The reason so few grow into a mighty faith is they try to do it with their own power. “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith’” (Luke 17:5 NKJV).

We think in our carnal minds the Lord is looking for those who can do things for themselves. But the ones who demand they do it for themselves are the ones who have the most pride. Your pride is the greatest hindrance to growing in faith that exists in the entire world.

It’s your pride that makes you think your faith is higher than it is. “Look at the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith [in the true God]” (Habakkuk 2:4 AMP).

Humility defeats pride in the kingdom of God, where the spiritual reigns over the natural and the things of heaven reign over the things of the world. The Lord will only take you higher in your faith as you kneel lower before Him. That is why He must often hurt you before He can help you.

Your deepest hurt will be where God does His greatest work to make you useful for the kingdom. “My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be” (James 1:2-4 ERV).

Faith increases in levels. It is a dial and not a switch to get to the higher faith. The Lord will take you to each higher level when you have proven yourself ready. The proof always comes in the trial, for surely faith cannot be tested in your pleasures.

The measure of faith is never answered by a “yes” or a “no” but by a “how much.” Faith is not a switch but a dial. You cannot turn it up by your power, only by His. “…Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NKJV).

As your faith goes higher, your life will become more peaceful. The peace is not because your life is easier, as it will likely become harder. Each higher level of faith requires a higher level of testing. But as your faith grows, the tests won’t seem as hard as they used to.

Living worry-free doesn’t mean your life is without problems, only that you’ve given them to God. “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel” (Philippians 4:6-7 CEV).

We can never reach the end of how high our faith can go, but we will have an eternity to keep going. Your faith journey will not end on earth, but it will most certainly begin there. Let God take you places in your faith you never imagined you could get to.

The closer you get to God, the higher you’ll go in your faith because that’s where He is. “God is high and lifted up. He lives forever. His name is holy. He says, ‘I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and sorry for their sins. I will give new life to those who are humble in spirit. I will give new life to those who are sorry for their sins’” (Isaiah 57:15 ERV).

Blessings to you,

Paul Balius