More Faith Than You Think You Have

"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.  But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” (Joh 11:21,22 AV)

These words were uttered by Martha, sister to Lazarus.  The faith in these words is beyond amazing.  Lazarus had been dead for four days, and Martha still held out hope that Jesus could do something.  A few verses later, Martha’s statement of faith was in the resurrection of the dead on the last day.  But stating this beforehand was an utterance of her true state of faith without her even realizing it.  I believe Martha, in the depth of her heart, believed Jesus could raise her brother from the dead even though he had been dead for several days.  Martha uttered a statement of faith she didn’t know she really had.  We often do the same.  We have more faith than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.  When deep trials of faith come upon us, the Holy Spirit takes over and our faith in God becomes our strength for the moment.  We don’t even realize what is happening until the experience is all over and we scratch our heads wondering how we ever survived.  Sometimes it takes a trial of faith to reveal just how much we never knew we had!

Last night, my wife and I were lying in bed talking about her cancer surgery.  A year ago this month, she underwent extensive and serious surgery to remove tumors in her small intestine, lymph nodes, and liver.  She was opened up from her sternum all the way to below her belly button.  We spoke of what we remembered and she wanted to know details of my experience.  Much of it, to me anyway, was a blur.  I remember the surgeon coming to speak to me and drawing pictures to describe the work she had done.  But I can't remember coming into Lisa’s room.  I cannot remember if she was in the room when I entered, or if we had to wait for her to arrive.  But there are a few things I distinctly remember because God was all over it.  I remember her demeanor pre-op.  Now, Lisa is not a good patient.  She is a nervous one.  I don’t blame her.  I probably am not much better.  But that day, she had such a calm and peaceful demeanor it almost shocked me.  She had a look of confidence and assurance on her face I have rarely seen in her when faced with severe situations.  The other manifestation of God’s power on her was how she comported herself as a patient.  Again, she is not an easy patient.  But her stay in the hospital following her surgery was the calmest I have ever seen her when in great discomfort. It was definitely a God thing.  Since then, we have had our ups and downs.  We have a scare here and there.  And I can say that there were times we did not exhibit the faith we should have had given the circumstances and the results of treatment.  But none of that takes away from the faith God gave us at the moment of our deepest need.  It is amazing how much faith God gives you that you don’t even realize you have.

When I think of this truth, I think of Abraham.  He knew God would raise his son from the dead or stop him from killing Isaac.  At least he knew that in his head.  Part of Isaac's offering was for Abraham to prove to himself he had the faith to trust God.  These lessons come with very hard circumstances.  These lessons are not easy.  I can tell you by experience, that this has been one of the most difficult trials I have ever been through,  as exhibited by much hair loss for about eight weeks from the time of diagnosis to the time of her follow-up scans.  Perhaps that is where the phrase ‘pulling your hair out’ came from.  Stress can do that to you.  But what I can say is God becomes very real and very close in times like these.  He provides the faith or reveals the faith you already had.  This was Martha’s lesson.  The loss of her brother brought out the faith she didn’t know she had when Jesus came to visit.  Praise the LORD He provides our needs before we need them.