We are bound to thank God always for you, brothers, as it is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly. (2 Thess. 1:3)
Like anything else in the Kingdom, faith follows the principle of the seed. Jesus said the things of the Kingdom follow that pattern.
And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.” (Mk 4:26-29)
Many try to harvest the promises of God before their faith has fully grown. Some never sow the Word into their hearts and still expect to harvest blessings. A farmer would be foolish to believe for a harvest if the seed was still sitting in the barn. And yet we often try to microwave the miracles we need and wonder why we aren’t seeing results.
In Lystra, there sat a man, crippled in his feet who had never walked and was lame from birth. He heard Paul speaking, who looked intently at him and perceived that he had faith to be healed and said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he jumped up and walked. (Acts 14:8-10)
Paul perceived that the man had faith to be healed. Healing faith came quickly to the lame man from simply hearing Paul preach. That perception prompted Paul to command action from the man and that action resulted in healing.
Sometimes the harvest of faith comes quickly. Sometimes it comes more slowly. It is not God who determines the growth of faith. We do. Faith is activated in the presence of God and His Word. When we act on the faith that we have, it strengthens. Great men and women of faith didn’t see the same results on day one of their ministries that they saw 20, 30 and 40 years later. They kept sowing, kept watering and kept growing in their relationship with God.
The man in Lystra heard Paul speak and the harvest of faith came immediately. No doubt there were others present who were also afflicted physically. If they heard the Word, the seed of faith was present. In some hearts faith will grow quickly. In other hearts it won’t. It may even be choked out by the cares of life. The soil of the heart determines the prosperity of the seed.
The writer is a Dean of Instuctors at Charis Bible College in Colorado. Author reserves all rights to this publication.
