Why does God stretch our faith? Many times, we prefer to stay in the baby pool of faith. It feels safe there; it is much easier than swimming in deep water. The Lord, like a good teacher, knows when our faith needs to be stretched. Our faith will be challenged when we move out of the shallows. The deep is difficult and there we must depend on God to survive. But it is in the deep that God can mature our faith and there we begin to move into the plans He has for us.
Sarah’s Faith Stretched
God had promised Sarah and Abraham a child and a multitude of descendants. But they were old and still did not have any children. When the Lord and two angels came to Sarah and told her she will have a child in the next year, she laughed. This must have seemed preposterous to her.
Yet the writer of Hebrews complements Sarah for her faith. She came to believe and in fact used the laughter to proclaim what God had done. Genesis 21: 6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7 Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” [1] Sarah’s son was named Isaac which means “he laughs.” Every time Sarah called her son, she would testify to what God had done. He had moved her from doubt to believing God could do the impossible.
Other Stories of Faith Stretching
The Bible is filled with stories where people were called to move into deeper spiritual waters. God called Noah to build the Ark because a worldwide flood was coming. Moses was an eighty-year-old shepherd when the Lord called him to lead Israel out of Egypt. Jeremiah thought he was too young when God called him. Peter thought he was too sinful to follow Jesus. In each instance, the faith of each was stretched and God accomplished great things through people who went deeper with God.
Is the Lord Stretching Your Faith?
Why does God stretch our faith? Remember, when God stretches our faith, we are the biggest benefactors. In a time of stretching our faith, we become better people. We don’t go into deeper water by ourselves, we go into deeper water with the Lord right beside us. He provides strength and guidance along the way. It is then that we come to appreciate the Lord’s intervention as a gift.
To hear more of the story of the stretching of Sarah’s faith, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/faith-makes-a-difference-sarah
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ge 21:1–7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.