Faith Grows When Used

The first time I flew commercially I was twelve years old. It was exciting to me, but when we hit turbulence and the plane started bopping up and down, my excitement quickly morphed into fear. We had flown to my Grandpa’s funeral and when it was time to board again to go home, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. My dad reassured me by explaining how the turbulence was simply varying low and high pressure air pockets and that it was perfectly normal. He said that the plane was built to withstand far more and the pilots had flown through turbulence thousands of times. 

I believed him and got on the plane. We hit turbulence on the way back and it was actually a little worse. Even though I still had some fear, I remembered what my dad had said and since we made it through last time, I was pretty sure we’d get through it again.

Since, I’ve flown many thousands of miles and have been in turbulence rough enough to launch me to the ceiling (except for my seatbelt), but I don’t ever hesitate to get on a plane. Actually, I rarely even notice turbulence anymore. 

The more you actively believe something that is true to overcome fear, or doubt, or to act contrary to your feelings, the more your faith grows and the easier it becomes to do or accept those things that were at one time very hard.

But the opposite is also true. The more you give in to doubt, or irrational fear, the harder it becomes to believe what is true and your faith recedes. The more you give in to your fears and doubts, the more you are afraid and the more doubts you experience.

I have a friend who will not get on an airplane. It all started with an incident resembling mine when I was a boy. But the difference was, I believed my dad and got on the plane. When he encountered fear from turbulence, he decided to never get on a plane again. He gave in to fear and the fear took over. I acted on belief and now that belief overwhelms what used to be fear.

Faith grows when you use it.

It doesn’t take a lot of faith to follow God, just enough to do as he says. I was still scared to get on the plane the second time. But I needed just enough faith to get on even though I was afraid.

You might struggle with doubt that God is in control. But you only need to believe God enough to do as he says despite your feelings, and follow him and act on his Word.

You can do that. You can do what you know God wants you to do, even though you may feel like doing something else. And every time you act on your faith instead of your feelings, your faith grows. Soon, it becomes second nature to do what God wants. Just like it’s second nature for me to remain calm during turbulence on an airplane. 

So what are you holding back on because you don’t think you have enough faith? Don’t wait for your faith to grow on it’s own. Act on what little faith you might have and do what God wants you to do, despite your fears or your feelings. And then you will find that faith, like a muscle, grows through use. The more you exert, the bigger it gets.