So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. – Acts 16:5
Yellowstone is my favorite place. There are so many great things about it. One of the things it is most known for is its geysers, especially Old Faithful. The first time I saw Old Faithful I was in complete awe. The power and force with which the water shot straight out of the ground was amazing. The spray covered all those standing around and the ones closest were saturated. Old Faithful affected all those in its proximity.
Faith is the same way as it has a powerful effect on the one who stands in it and to all those in proximity to the one who has it. We see in Acts 16:5 that as the churches were strengthened in their faith, more people were added to the family and the kingdom of God was increased DAILY! Now there are over 500 geysers in Yellowstone National Park. Some are small, some are fairly big, some erupt only occasionally, and others rarely. But none compare to Old faithful. It erupts about 20 times a day and is very large. Yes, Steamboat is bigger and New Zealand is the biggest but it has not erupted in over a hundred years. Therefore, even though Old Faithful is not the biggest, it affects more people because it has regular, predictable, and constant eruptions. I want my faith to be like the Old Faithful. I want to continually have eruptions of faith, standing firm and frequent in my trust and hope in our Lord. I don’t want or have to be the biggest or most impressive, just constant. I want my faith to be predictable. When troubles and attacks come my way, whether it is stormy or sunny, I want to always erupt with faith in my Lord and Savior. The One who is truly faithful. God never leaves us or forsakes us. He is love, He knows all, and is all powerful. Of course, now that I sit here telling you my inner thoughts, it hit me. I want all of our faith to be more and bigger than Old Faithful. Imagine if our faith was enormous and consistent! The huge spray would reach more people and often. Imagine if our faith was strengthened to become huge and constant. The Kingdom of God would increase daily. I believe this is what was happening to the church in Acts.
When we strengthen our faith, it not only affects us, but all those around us. People come to the Lord. It is a natural overflow. As you trust in the Lord more and more, you can’t help talking about Him. He is everything to you. The joy that you have pours forth. As our faith grows and is strengthened, it becomes like that powerful, majestic, awe inspiring geyser. It erupts out of you uncontrollably and saturates those closest to you and splashes on to all of the bystanders. We have a mission to make disciples. As a Christian, you can’t help but desire to see all those you know and love to come to the saving grace of Jesus. This happens as we strengthen our faith.
The Lord describes what faith is to us in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” I love the words God uses to describe faith, assurance, and conviction. When our faith is strengthened we have complete assurance that God is looking out for us because He loves us and His timing is perfect. We have a conviction that moves us into action and allows us to stand firm. Faith allows us to see beyond our circumstances. It is a shield to us that quenches all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).
Now that we see what faith is and how it affects all around us, the question becomes, how do we strengthen it? First, we need each other. We can’t do it on our own. God gave us a body (the church) for a reason and every part is needed. We need to encourage each other. Sometimes as things happen, it can be tempting to isolate or flee, but we need to fight that temptation. We need to take our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need to think on “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise” (Philippians 4:8). We should be drawing near to God by spending time in His word, and in prayer. Remember, that as our faith is tested, it produces steadfastness/endurance (James 1:3). Let that endurance be inspired by the hope(faith) you have in our Lord Jesus (1 Thessalonians 1:3)!
I pray brothers and sisters that our faith be strengthened each and every day and that we would see all those around us come to know and trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Written by Rebecca Murzin
