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Have you ever felt like your faith wasn’t enough? Like you were walking on eggshells just to stay afloat? Perhaps your prayers bounced off the ceiling, and every time you talked to God, it felt like an echo chamber of emptiness. If you’ve felt this way, you’re in good company with me and the Father, as mentioned in Mark 9.
In the middle of Mark 9, Jesus and His Disciples encounter a crowd of religious teachers arguing. A man brought his son so that Jesus could heal him because he was possessed by a demon. While Jesus’ Disciples couldn’t cast them out, the Father noted, “The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can” (Mark 9:22, NLT).
“If I can?” Jesus retorted. “Anything is possible if a person believes” (Mark 9:23, NLT, paraphrased). At that moment, the Father cried out: “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24, NLT). And I have to wonder, did he feel small in faith? Was he embarrassed by Jesus’ question? Why was his faith so small?
As Christians, I think we all know what it’s like to feel like our faith is fragile. We cling to hope with one hand while fighting off doubt with the other. While Jesus does call us to believe and have faith, we often miss a bigger point: He cares about us, whether our faith is as small as a mustard seed or as large as a mountain.
If your faith feels small right now, there are two things I want you to remember: Real faith isn’t measured by our feelings, and Jesus never asked for big faith.
1. Real Faith Isn’t Measured By Our Feelings
Have you ever attended a Church service where everyone seems to be intoxicated by the Holy Spirit? People are shouting, raising their hands, and singing at higher decibel volumes, but maybe you feel nothing? It’s not a bad thing to “feel” the presence of the Holy Spirit, and yet, faith isn’t measured by our feelings. It’s not the goosebumps we get in a worship concert or during a sermon that Jesus looks at. No, He looks at the heart.
For many years, I wrestled with this. The weeks I “felt” something in my body, I felt more on fire for God. The weeks I didn’t, I ridiculed myself and believed I was a bad Christian. Here’s the truth: We live in a cultural myth of big faith. Many Christians, myself included, have bought into the lie that we have to be “on fire’ for the Lord all the time, and visibly show that. Social media screams it, televangelists prophecy it, and revivals promise it. Let me be clear: I’m not bashing any of these things. But when we measure our faith by feelings, outward expressions, and cultural church pressures, we’ve missed the point.
Serving God means being faithful in and out of season. It means worshipping Him when you feel His presence and when you don’t. When you want to worship, and when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. Real faith shares the human experience with our Creator. It tells Him how we’re really doing and doesn’t put on a show. Because you might fool those around you, but you will never fool God.
As the Apostle Paul explains in the book of Galatians, salvation comes through faith alone. It’s our personal and intimate relationship with Jesus that matters. While God does want us to praise and experience the fullness of His Spirit, He doesn’t want us to ridicule ourselves for not feeling a certain way.
In Galatians 2, Paul rebuked Peter for his hypocrisy. While this wasn’t about his outward expression of worship or feeling, it was about circumcision. When Peter first arrived in Galatia, he ate with the Gentile believers who were not circumcised. Later, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentile believers who were not circumcised. He feared criticism, and as a result, caused hypocrisy that confused and led others astray.
I bring up this example because Paul’s point is this: faith isn’t about feelings, a performance, or looking spiritual in front of your friends. But sadly, just as Peter fell into the trap of doing what looked right, we can fall into thinking our emotions, or lack of faith, define our relationship with God.
Just as Paul reminded Peter, I’m here to remind you and me that the Gospel message is built on grace, forgiveness, and discipline. True faith doesn’t mean feeling God’s presence every Sunday or comparing your worship to the person two pews ahead of you. True faith means staying faithful and dependent on the Lord when you feel something and when you feel nothing. It’s about who our faith is in.
As humans, our feelings will rise and fall. This is part of the human experience. But Christ never changes, and He loves you the same. Real faith isn’t a constant mountaintop experience—and frankly, if we try to live and pretend like it is, we will burn out, crash, and fall. But real faith is a daily decision to trust God in the valleys and the mountains. The rivers and the deserts of wastelands. And that faith will endure to the end.