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Faith cannot be measured by how strongly one believes nor by the amount or quality of one’s hope. If it could, faith would be nothing more than how you feel at a given moment. Faith, if you have it, is in your past. It’s not what you tried to do to escape a situation. Faith is what you did right when there was no escape. Having faith is not the means of getting away from something but the means to persevere with the Word of God, both testaments, and prayer as your anchor. When faith is no longer a means of escape, the unbelievable riches in faith, far exceeding money, make you immovable, a mountain inside. No one can take away what you said to Jesus, despite how you felt, when you were being crushed. And no one can take away the joy you have after the fact, knowing you weren’t alone and will never be.
First, Jesus says have faith. Then - after that, He says ask. He’s inviting us to trust him first in the dark places - where we need to know He’s with us. Faith requires a relationship. Anything less, like viewing faith as a means of escape, is like taking someone’s last name in marriage because they’re rich.
You can develop faith right now. Pour your heart out to God. That means saying all the things you don’t really want to say. Then, after that, choosing your path, like David did. Let him be your pattern:
My God, why have You forsaken Me? (This is a hard place)
Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? (Note his embrace of just how bad it is. He’s not running away or minimizing it)
O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. (Note the details about how he feels both inside and out).
Then, after acknowledging where he is, how bad things feel, he chooses - despite his feelings, the truth he shall cling to - faith:
But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel…
Both David and Jesus followed this pattern because anything else, by nature, rejects an actual relationship with God. For context, our enemy would love nothing more for us than to think of faith and/or power as a means of escape, which is why Jesus, like us, was tempted the way He was in the desert.
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