Trying to Be Strong… or Trusting the One Who Is?
My faith may shift—but the One I trust never does. Christ in me is the Anchor that holds.
A Conversation About Faith, Pressure, and the Faithfulness of Christ in You
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” – Hebrews 12:2
“I live by faith in the Son of God…” – Galatians 2:20
A Conversation After a Midweek Bible Study
Caleb:
I’ve been really wrestling with faith lately—not just believing in God, but like… having faith for stuff. For guidance, for healing, for breakthrough. Everyone says you just have to “stand strong in faith,” but what if your faith doesn’t feel strong?
Me:
Been there. I used to feel like I needed to muscle up some sort of inner certainty to move God’s hand—like if I could just believe harder, He’d act. But it always left me anxious… and second-guessing whether my faith was “strong enough.”
Caleb’s View: Stronger Faith = Better Results
Caleb nods. “Exactly. I’ve heard sermons that say if you’re not seeing change, maybe your faith isn’t mature yet. And then I read stuff like:
Matthew 9:29 – ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’
James 1:6 – ‘But let him ask in faith, with no doubting…’
Mark 11:23 – ‘Whoever does not doubt in his heart but believes…’
“It just sounds like faith is something I have to build up or else nothing’s going to happen.”
My Response: The Power Was Never in Your Faith—It’s in Christ
I lean back and smile. “What if the real power doesn’t come from how strong your faith feels, but from who your faith rests in?”
Caleb tilts his head.
I continue, “Galatians 2:20 says, ‘The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God.’ Not by faith in my faith. And Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus is both the Author and the Perfecter of faith. That means I’m not the one trying to crank it up. He’s the source. He started it, and He finishes it.”
“Faith isn’t your personal achievement,” I add. “It’s your response to the One who is perfectly faithful.”
Trying vs. Trusting: The Burden Shift
“When I stopped trying to have faith that moved mountains, and instead started trusting the One who already calmed storms, something shifted. It’s not about whether my faith feels strong—it’s whether I’m trusting the Faithful One within me.”
“2 Timothy 2:13 says, ‘If we are faithless, He remains faithful.’ That tells me this whole thing rests on Him, not on me.”
A Grace-Oriented Appeal
If you’ve been exhausting yourself trying to have stronger faith, take heart:
You were never meant to carry that burden.
Jesus never asked you to manufacture certainty. He asked you to trust Him.
Faith isn’t your inner willpower. It’s your quiet response to the indwelling Christ who never fails, never weakens, and never wavers.
So today, don’t try harder to believe more. Fix your eyes on the Faithful One.
The One who authored your faith… will carry it through.
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