In the cold waters that surround Greenland floats hundreds of icebergs of every shape and size. That is not surprising considering its geographical location. But what is interesting is that some of the icebergs float in one direction while the rest float in another.
Why so? Because of the size of the iceberg. The smaller ones are blown around by the surface winds. The larger ones are submerged deeply enough that they are moved along by the ocean’s currents.
I got to thinking about this and how it reminds me of our faith. The size of it too, determines our direction in life. You might recall that Jesus spoke of some people having “Little” faith and others having a “Great” faith. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
LITTLE FAITH – Matthew records an incident in the life of Christ when He and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat. There was a storm that arose causing waves so high they were covering the boat. The disciples were frightened and fearful, but Jesus was also in the boat – sleeping. They woke Him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” Jesus’ first response was, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then Jesus “rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm” (Mt 8:24-26). The disciple’s faith was small. It was determined by the strength of the storm, not the strength of the Lord.
GREAT FAITH – Matthew also records an incident in the life of Christ that shows a different faith. A centurion came to Jesus pleading for Him to heal his paralytic servant. Jesus offered to come to his house and heal the servant. However, the centurion felt unworthy for the Son of God to come under his roof, so he asked that He, “only speak a word, and my servant will be healed”. This caused Jesus to marvel and say to His disciples, “Assuredly, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel” (Mt 8:5-10). The centurion’s faith was great. It was determined only by a word from the Lord, not some great wonder.
Notice also that the object of their faith was Jesus Christ. The thing that made their faith different from the other is how completely they trusted in the object of their faith. Is Jesus the object of your faith? Do you completely trust in Jesus with all of your being or do the storms of life determine the strength of your faith?