I’ve had a verse stuck in my head ever since I heard it in the movie soul surfer, and it has become my life verse because it reminds me that even though we don’t understand Gods plan he does in fact know what he doing. Its Jeremiah 29:11. It says for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Bethany Hamilton grew up in Hawaii and at a very young age began surfing. At age 14 she was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark which severed her arm. Two weeks before the accident Bethany asked God to use her in a miraculous way, and little did she know that because of the attack she would be able to reach people all over the world with the good news of Jesus Christ. Just one month after the attack she was back in the water and then won a surfing competition. Since losing her arm, Bethany’s story has been told in hundreds of media outlets and she has been recognized with numerous awards, public appearances, and various speaking engagements. I’m sure that when Bethany first lost her arm she did not see nor realize Gods plan, but because she kept constant faith, God used her in a mighty way. What if we all had a faith like Bethany’s? What could we do for Christ? Are we maybe too nervous to ask for Gods help in fear for what he will do?
In order to have a strong faith we must:
1. Develop a relationship:
· 2 Corinthians 13:15 says “Examine yourselves: are you acting according to faith? Test yourselves. Can you assert that Christ Jesus is in you?”
· I think that this is a good verse because sometimes we all need a little examining. We have faith in everything if we think about it. We have faith in a chair every time we sit in it. We have faith that our house is still standing even though we are far from it. So why can’t we have faith in God. The person that made us, created us, and gave us life.
· In order to have faith in someone we have to develop a relationship. We need to pray, have private time with God and even surround ourselves with Godly things not worldly things. Such as music, friends, shows.
2. Practice Faith:
· 1 Peter 5:9 says “Stand your ground, firm in your faith, knowing that our brothers and sisters, scattered throughout the world, are confronting similar persecutions."
· We as Christians need to practice what we preach. When someone is doing wrong we need to stand up for what is right. In order to have a strong faith to withstand big trials we have to practice faith in small things. At age 10 I started playing piano. I think I may have been the worst piano player of all time, but with practice I became better. This reminds me of having to practice small faith so you can get better and stronger in big faith.
God doesn’t expect us as humans to be perfect and have a super-sized faith. I’m pretty sure that’s why he wrote the verse Matthew 17:20. It says Jesus said to them, "Because you have little faith. I say to you: if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible to you. I researched how big a mustard seed is and found out that it is one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. That’s a pretty small faith. So maybe if we have a little faith and trust that God knows what he is doing he can do mighty things through us. Even move mountains.
