Matthew 16:8-9 (NIV)
“You of little faith… Do you still not understand?”

Jesus issued this statement to reprimand His disciples after He had multiplied a few loaves of bread and fish to feed several thousands of people. There is an overarching principle we need to realize from this passage of scripture, however. The disciples’ exercise of faith was termed “Little” because they did not have understanding. In other words, if the disciples had understanding, their faith would not have been termed little; rather, it would have been termed “Great Faith.”

But, what is “Little Faith” and how does it contrast with “Great Faith?” We can answer this question by referring to Peter’s story when he walked temporarily on water at Jesus’ command (Matthew 14:30-32). Jesus reprimanded Peter for letting go of his faith at the sight of a temporary situation (waves of the sea) and subsequently termed Peter’s faith “little.” From Jesus’ perspective, little faith is temporary faith. Conversely, we can deduce that great faith is permanent faith, and understanding is the antidote to every syndrome of little or temporary faith. Proverbs 14:29 also states that a patient person has great understanding, indicating that if we add understanding to our faith, we can add patience to our faith to make our faith less temporary. It is not surprising then to realize that it takes faith and patience to inherit the promise of God’s Word (Hebrews 6:12).

Since we have exercised our hearts in humility based on the advice of the previous article, we stand eligible for this level of understanding required to overcome challenges we may be going through. God is poised to flex His muscles and show Himself strong on our behalf because we have exercised ourselves in honesty and humility. So what level of understanding do we need to stimulate our faith to outlast the storm?

We need to realize that if God allows certain situations to come our way, He has provided a way of escape for us to get out of the situation (1 Corinthians 10:13). When we take the escape hatch that God has provided in the situation, God promises to give us a “Crown of Life” (James 1:12). This “Crown of Life” is the Life of God poured on our heads like a crown, and it is the manifestation of the burden-removing, yoke destroying, blessing-unleashing power and anointing of God. Also, we need to realize that the orchestrator of the test of our faith, who is the devil, does not have the ability to stand firm forever because he does not have what it takes to stand firm forever – patience a fruit of the spirit. The anointing of the Crown of life will destroy all the yokes of this orchestrator of evil. So let us exercise our hearts in honesty, humility and faith at this level and overcome every storm of life.



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