Several years ago, I was leading a team. We held yearly camp meetings. We were in one of those planning meetings when one of the team members said; “Pastor, why can’t God send someone to give us some huge funds to take care of the camp bills instead of us having to pray and believe Him for it?” My response was this; “While I would appreciate such huge funds, I think I would prefer that we keep using our faith as we trust Him to sort out the meeting.” And God always took care of the meetings; in His own way, the faith way!
Friend, there is something interesting about the walk of faith. It is not just about having your needs met; it is about growing you. Sincerely, it would not take God anything to bring all the resources you need for life and destiny your way at once. The things you are believing God for daily are just at the tap of a finger away. But why does God seem to bear long with us (Luke 18:1-8)? He is growing and maturing us! He is developing our faith in Him so we can handle bigger stuff in life.
One of the enemies of faith walk is bail out. While bail out is most comfortable or convenient for your flesh, it is unhealthy for your faith life. God is more interested in what you are becoming than in what you are getting. The Kingdom belongs to becomers (John 1:12). The future belongs to those who are developing their faith today (Habakkuk 2:4). You need to take conscious effort to grow your faith.
God wants us to use today’s challenges to develop our faith muscles for tomorrow’s victories and possibilities. When it’s time to make withdrawals from your faith account, ensure you have enough to draw from by growing your faith today. How do you know your faith is growing? You know your faith is growing when your prayer point changes. If you keep praying the same kinds of prayers, year in, year out, there is every likelihood that your faith is not growing.
When what used to be a mountain yesterday is no longer a mountain today, then you know your faith is growing. The advantage we have over mountains (or challenges) is that mountains don’t grow but we have the capacity to grow. You also know your faith is growing when what you can believe God for changes. In those years of camp meetings, our budget was relatively small compared to our ministry budget today. The good news is that, I can believe God better now because of those years of faith walk! What can you believe God for; a local government or nations (Psalms 2:8)?
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria