Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You pray, but you panic. You trust God, but you're also anxious.
[00:00:06] We have little faith in a big God sometimes. And today we're going to talk about this phrase that is used often in the scripture, particularly by Jesus.
[00:00:19] And he says, oh, ye of little faith.
[00:00:23] What is Jesus teaching us and making us aware of that makes it difficult for us as human beings to activate our faith? In fact, I found three reasons why. And let's get into it.
[00:00:56] God doesn't design us to fit. He designs us to be impactful.
[00:01:01] Hey, I'm Ryan Robinson. Welcome to Shifts and Ladders. I'm excited. We've been going through a series of talking about faith and particularly in Hebrews chapter 11, where we see this hall of faith. But I want to take a quick detour because I found that there are some clues that Jesus leaves in his teachings and in the Scriptures, particularly in the Gospel of Matthew, where we find this phrase that Jesus says, O ye of little faith.
[00:01:33] So whatever Jesus is saying, and I think this is just brilliant, it just hit me in some study time when Jesus says, O ye of little faith, we have to observe what little faith is being displayed.
[00:01:51] So we're going to take a walk through some, like, the three reasons why we have little faith. I hope this encourages you and actually helps you change your language a little bit in this process. So actually we're going to go through. I'm going to walk you through this, but you can go through the first reason and the first reason why we have little faith is that we believe that God will not take care of our earthly needs, our basic needs. And In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 30, I'm going to read the scripture here. And it says this.
[00:02:32] Therefore, if God.
[00:02:35] Therefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is here and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Or in my translation says, O you of little faith? So what he's saying is that faith or little faith is revealed when we do not trust God with our daily bread, our basic needs, right?
[00:03:05] So in this he talks about cares of the world, money, clothes, food.
[00:03:10] God knows we need these things. I mean, let's be honest, like.
[00:03:15] But sometimes we don't trust that God knows what we actually are in need of. So he usually says this at the end of this teaching. He says, sufficient is today for to focus on today, because today has its own trouble. Tomorrow will come. It'll have its own thing. But what you have right now is right now. So let's just Deal with today, our daily bread, and then we can deal with what is to come tomorrow. Because he knows what we need tomorrow.
[00:03:42] So when we start focusing. I'm sorry, I'm losing my hand here.
[00:03:49] When we start focusing on tomorrow, today we are basically saying that we do not have enough faith to be present now, that we have to anticipate what's coming tomorrow.
[00:04:06] And last time I checked, God is the God that is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. Therefore, when you get to tomorrow, he's already been there. And actually he is already there.
[00:04:17] So we're saying that God, you don't have tomorrow covered. So I need to think about where I am today, and I need to think about where I am tomorrow.
[00:04:30] And then Jesus has to say, oh, ye of little faith. So when you worry, and this is where this whole Matthew, chapter 24 through 34 sits, is worry is worship in the wrong direction.
[00:04:47] Worry focuses on the tomorrow, while worship requires you to be present.
[00:04:57] So we ask for the presence of the Lord when we worship. That's a now time moment. But when you worry, you start worrying about the future, which is where you are not at that time. Right. So that's like the first reason is that we have to shift our trust and anchor it in his presence and his character, not necessarily his future performance. Because when we start focusing on the future performance, we are actually omitting and not seeing what God has done today.
[00:05:29] So if you've struggled, that's one of the reasons that most people struggle with faith is because they worry about some of their earthly requirements and needs. Okay.
[00:05:40] Okay. So we're gonna walk through the Bible a bit. So number two, reason why? Reason number two, just making sure I got time. Okay. Reason number two, we fear when life gets chaotic.
[00:05:55] We have no faith or we lose faith when life gets chaotic. Okay, let's go to. We'll go to Matthew, chapter eight.
[00:06:06] Here we go. Verse 26. I'm going to read this one.
[00:06:09] Here we go. I just need to give some context because this is when Jesus, when the disciples are in the storm. So he says this.
[00:06:16] It says, okay, when he entered the boat, this is Jesus. And then he entered the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly, a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.
[00:06:35] That sounds like there's a lot of water in the boat. Okay. I'd be terrified, especially I can't swim. But he said, but he was asleep, meaning Jesus was asleep.
[00:06:46] The disciples went to him and woke him, saying, lord, save Us, we are perishing.
[00:06:52] Jesus replied, why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he rose, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men were amazed, saying, what kind of man is this that even the winds in the sea obey him?
[00:07:10] This is. This is the other part, a great part here.
[00:07:14] Jesus.
[00:07:16] This is a storm, clearly.
[00:07:18] And we have several indications of storms happening in the Bible, but this one in particular brings the fact that Jesus was asleep during the time when a boat was actually getting filled with water.
[00:07:32] In other gospels, it says that Jesus was sitting in the bottom of the boat. So, like, he really was separated from whatever those cond Were happening. But he was sound asleep. So much so that he did not hear.
[00:07:48] He didn't hear the disciples crying. And they had to wake him up. They had to go downstairs. Like, you know, some translation says, master, do you care that we perish?
[00:07:57] And Jesus is like, he's napping, y'. All.
[00:08:00] He says, why are you so fearful? Oh, you of little faith. Then he gets up, talks to the. The wind, and everything shuts down and gets calm.
[00:08:14] So what does that indicate? It shows that we panic in the presence of problems. Even when we have Jesus in the boat with us.
[00:08:23] That's what we need to really break down. What do we believe about Jesus? Do we really believe that he is in the boat with us? Because Jesus told them to get in the boat and he said, we're going to get into the other side. So if you have Jesus in the boat with you, do you think that the person who created the environments, the conditions, and the creation that caused the storm would succumb to his own creation?
[00:08:52] That because he speaks to the winds and they obey him, did they not realize who they actually had in the boat?
[00:09:05] Perhaps this is the question for you. Do you realize who you have in the boat of life with you?
[00:09:14] Because if Jesus is with you, and in this case in the boat, in the vehicle with you, do you think that the storm you're experiencing will destroy you and him?
[00:09:30] I'm just.
[00:09:35] We get inundated with so many what if scenarios.
[00:09:41] That's what typically panic and chaos. Cause they give us the opportunity to think of multiple scenarios. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if this doesn't go well? What if this does? What about reframing it? What if it does go well?
[00:10:00] The disciples didn't say, what if we do get to the other side? What are we going to do? There was nothing positive.
[00:10:07] Again, when faith is not done in a present moment, you will find yourselves panicking over outcomes that you just cannot control. Yet panic and problems, chaos around you cause you to think in the moment, I'm gonna die.
[00:10:31] I'm not gonna make it.
[00:10:34] But you have to remember who is in the boat with you.
[00:10:38] Fear has a way of shrinking and drowning out what Jesus has said to you.
[00:10:50] There's a phrase that said like, squeaky wheel gets the oil, right?
[00:10:55] I get it. If you're loud and you make a lot of noise, you get the attention, right?
[00:11:02] But this is the part that most people don't realize. Sometimes that attention isn't based on facts.
[00:11:09] Just because you're loud and I have to address you doesn't mean what you're saying is an emergency.
[00:11:17] It is the truth.
[00:11:20] It just means that you're loud and you need to be addressed right.
[00:11:26] Fear has a way of speaking over things.
[00:11:30] And that's why Jesus displays peace in the middle of a storm.
[00:11:35] Because no matter what's going on around you, peace has to come from the inside.
[00:11:43] So what happens is this.
[00:11:46] Jesus, who is already peaceful, restful, sleeping, probably getting some Z's, brings the peace that he has into an external circumstance and speaks to the things that are his. Actually, this is the crazy thing. His speech, his peace speaks louder than the fear of the storm.
[00:12:11] That crazy.
[00:12:13] And the Bible says that Jesus will give us peace that surpasses all understanding. And it's on. Is on display in Matthew, chapter eight, verse 26. Okay, so that's two. So fear.
[00:12:31] We lose our faith when we fear, when life gets chaotic. Okay, all right, so now I'm gonna get to three. Number three, man, this one's a big one. I got two verses for you for this one. Number three, the reason why you lose faith is because you forgot what God already said.
[00:12:54] You forget.
[00:12:56] I don't know about you, but I'm a forgetful person. You can ask my wife, you can ask my kids. Sometimes I forget because I literally, I forget.
[00:13:08] It's just I'm thinking about other stuff, right? I forget what's already been said beforehand. And I. My daughter reminds me. My wife reminds me too. Daddy, didn't you already said my wife is like, ryan, and I already told you this before. I'm like, yeah, yeah, you did say that. Yeah, you did say that.
[00:13:27] And then I feel silly because, one, when I get reminded, it comes back to my members. So I try to beat it before I actually say.
[00:13:37] Before I get caught in the fact that I didn't remember. And I want to bring up two scriptures here for you. Matthew, chapter 14. And again, we've gone through all of these examples, but Matthew chapter 14, Matthew chapter 14. We find that Jesus again tells the disciples, again, the boat. This is after the disciple Jesus has the miracle. The two loaves or sorry, the two fish and five loaves of bread feeding the 5,000, not counting women and children.
[00:14:07] And he says this, at the fourth watch of the day, they go. The disciples go through a storm, and they find that they are sleepy and Jesus is walking on water.
[00:14:20] And where we go, I'll just start at 29 or 28. Excuse me.
[00:14:27] Let's go to 27. Here we go. It says, but immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. Peter answered him and said, lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water. He said, come. And when Peter got out of the boat, he walked on water to go to Jesus. Here it is, verse 30. But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid and began and beginning to sink, he cried, cried out, lord, save me. And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and said to him, o you of little faith, why did you doubt? Now, this is the piece here. Jesus told Peter to come.
[00:15:08] That was it.
[00:15:11] Clearly, he forgot the instruction.
[00:15:15] So when Peter saw the wind, which you can't see, try it, you will fail at it.
[00:15:22] When he saw the wind, he forgot what he said.
[00:15:27] So now he starts to sink because the wind was louder than what God said. And in fact, Peter forgot he did not get anchored to what Jesus said. So his faith was disrupted because he forgot what Jesus had told him. When Jesus gives a command that, hey, we're going to get to the other side, you're going to get to the other side. If Jesus says, come, you're going to come. It's not that you're. You'll. If you stop, you stop.
[00:16:03] But when Jesus says come, he's not giving you anything else. He's like, I don't need you to do extra stuff.
[00:16:09] I just need you to come.
[00:16:11] And whatever needs to be made in order for you to become and be obedient to what he says, it's gonna happen.
[00:16:19] Right?
[00:16:20] Peter clearly forgot because he saw something.
[00:16:23] He lost the focus on Jesus. He was not present with him in the moment. He saw something that made him forget and he lost focus. Okay, all right. So that's one example of it. The other one is verse 16.
[00:16:40] Okay, I pulled from a different scripture, but anyway, or different gospel. But here In Matthew, chapter 16, verse 8, it says this. But when Jesus perceived it. He said to them, o you of little faith, why reason amongst yourselves that it is because you have brought no bread?
[00:17:00] Here, I'm gonna keep reading a little bit. Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? Or the seven loaves of the 4,000, how many baskets you collected?
[00:17:17] I'm going to run that back here. Listen again.
[00:17:20] But Jesus, when he perceived it, he said to them, o you of little faith, why reason amongst yourselves that it is, that it is because you have brought no bread.
[00:17:31] Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves, the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? Or the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how many baskets you collected? How is it that you do not understand that I speak to you not concerning bread, but that you should be aware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Then they understood that he did not tell them to be.
[00:17:57] He did not tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Okay, so long story short, Pharisees and Sadducees demanded a sign from Jesus.
[00:18:12] Jesus didn't do that. I'm just summarizing, but please read it in Matthew, chapter 16. But what he's saying is, y', all. Jesus like, y', all, you just forgot that I did all of that before. I have examples of when I provided for you because they realized they didn't bring any of the bread that they recovered from.
[00:18:32] From all the miracles that Jesus had done.
[00:18:35] So they were hungry. They were talking about. Jesus was talking about bread. And he's like. They're like, yo, we forgot all the bread, y'. All. I don't know what we're gonna do. And Jesus is like, do you remember that I made provision when we had nothing? Let me keep giving you some more examples. So if we're in a situation where we have no bread, what makes you think that I will not be able to provide something with what we.
[00:19:05] And in fact, I ain't even talking about the bread. I'm talking about something else. So what the disciples got caught up on was the fact that Jesus had done something, gave plenty of examples, and they forgot that Jesus showed himself multiple times that he could provide ways when things are looking bleak, when you have a little. God can make it a lot. And Jesus showed it. He's sharing these two examples. He's like, I just didn't feed, like, 10 people. I fed thousands.
[00:19:40] But Y' all forgot, but y' all forgot.
[00:19:50] Crazy how doubt grows when our memory fades.
[00:19:54] We forget what God has done. And you know how many in the book of Genesis and in the earlier Testaments is always saying, remember God?
[00:20:06] Why does he say it so much? Because we forget. We forget that much. Okay. All right, so I'm going to recap everything.
[00:20:14] So Jesus wasn't shaming people. He's just trying to help them understand that they had little faith. And we get the benefit of learning from the disciples what little faith, what areas cause us to have little faith. So first one, we have little faith when it comes to our basic needs. We have little faith when it comes to the storms that we face and we fear. And we have little faith when. Sorry, we have. And we have little faith when we doubt past provision and a present circumstance and promise.
[00:20:51] So the question for you now is this.
[00:20:54] Where do you have little faith now?
[00:20:58] Have you taken the chance or taking some time to cultivate that faith? And if you've realized that you have one, two, or all three issues of little faith here, ask God to help you fix and correct a particular belief or truth that you may have wrong.
[00:21:21] And I pray that he reveals to you his real truth so that you can increase and grow in faith.
[00:21:28] All right, this is good, y'. All. I had to interrupt our current faith piece because this here.
[00:21:36] Oh, ye of little faith. These three phrases that Jesus says indicate or. Sorry, these three examples, but this phrase indicates something important to us because these are the areas that we, as people of God get caught up. And it actually keeps us back from getting and becoming part of the hall of faith that we were talking about in Hebrews 11. So we'll get. Jump. We'll jump back in that in the next pod. But if you can, and I'll tell you this, I want to. I want to do a call to action real quick with this.
[00:22:08] I have an ebook called declutter your soul. The link is found in the description.
[00:22:16] And one of the things that keeps our soul cluttered is the fact that we have fear, anxiety, and stress due to facts that may not be true.
[00:22:30] You may have believed something that isn't true.
[00:22:36] It is possible that you and myself have done this, have taken a lie and made it truth.
[00:22:46] Sometimes you may believe that God isn't a provider. You believe that God cannot heal, that God can't and does not see you.
[00:22:56] There's nowhere in the Bible that happened that that says. But usually our lives get cluttered because we have a lie masquerading as the truth. So give if you can jump into the link in the description, there's a free ebook for you. Download it. We're going to have this Independence Day coming up here soon. And I want to we're going to have a webinar coming up, talking about what it means to declutter your soul. Because I want individuals. And Jesus wants this for you, too. He wants you to be free to believe in the imaginable, the things that you can't even fathom God can do.
[00:23:44] But you need to make room for the belief to take place in your life. Okay. If this blessed you, share this with somebody.
[00:23:53] Let them know that God is faithful and you don't have to be of little faith.
[00:24:00] Let's get big faith and learn what God has best for us. So anyway, keep it locked. Share. We'll get with you. Peace.
