In his defense for why salvation is available to all people, the apostle Paul lays out a stunning truth for how faith is produced in a person’s life; by hearing. Without losing the full effect of the point, we can even shorten the verse by saying, “faith comes through hearing the word of Christ.”
Throughout my time as a pastor, I’ve witnessed lots of people struggle in their faith when times get tough. Those struggles typically fall into one of three categories.
1. No faith
When a crisis strikes, some folks are totally unprepared. True, some preparation for some situations might include some physical provisions like extra food, a savings account, or extra gasoline in the garage. But what about making spiritual provisions for an emotional crisis?
Experiencing tough or challenging times is just part of life. Take the time now, while you’re not in crisis, to make spiritual provisions by absorbing God’s word. Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ, so focus on more general passages like Hebrews 13:15, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Knowing that God will stick with you through the struggle is a colossal faith-builder.
2. Not enough faith
We start with the more generic promises as a way to gird our faith, but once we’re in the middle of a problem, it’s time to get specific. When I’ve seen people trudging through a difficult time, it’s not that they have no faith but just don’t have enough. They mirror the father in Mark 9:24 that said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”
When we are in a crisis, find Scripture that is about your exact situation. The Bible is a treasure trove of helpful verses that speak on every topic of life. Here are a few verses that might be helpful in your current dealings:
Financial worries – Philippians 4:19
Marriage struggles – Colossians 3:13-14
Trust in government – Psalm 22:28
Loneliness – Psalm 27:10
Anxiety – 1 Peter 5:7
This is a shortlist, but whatever issue is yours, there is Scripture that can help.
3. Wrong faith
The third way that I’ve watched people struggle in their struggles is not that they have little or no faith, but that they have put their trust in the wrong things. Our verse is about building our faith in Christ’s words, but the principle on display is that our faith is built by whatever it is we’re listening to, whether it be Christ or something else.
What voice are you listening to the most? The news? A friend? A book that isn’t based on Biblical ideas? Obviously, we can absorb wisdom and insights from many different places, but are you putting your faith in Christ or something else at the end of the day?
No matter where we are in our faith, the secret to increasing it is found in Scripture.
