Great Faith Is Strong Faith

When an individual's faith is described as being great, I believe we do ourselves a great disservice to merely assume that the greatness of one's faith is a direct reference to its size or quantity.  When we consider the purpose of faith as being "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," as stated in Hebrews 11:1, it then becomes clear to us that faith isn't even measured according to the amount of space it occupies.  What we come to understand then is that the greatness of one's faith is simply determined by what all it accomplishes (or produces) in a person's life.  Great faith isn't any bigger in size or quantity than "the measure of faith" GOD has dealt every man, according to Romans 12:3.

I have often heard it taught that faith is like building muscle mass.  However, I find it necessary that we endeavor to expand our understanding of this illustration.  For example, in my own quest over the years to improve my physical fitness, I have learned that there is a big difference between the building of mass and the building of strength.  Both are indicative of muscular growth and development, but they serve different purposes.  When we take "the measure of faith" GOD has given us and undergo a program of spiritual resistance training to develop our faith to produce results, it's more so to build the strength of our faith muscle than to increase its mass.

It's the strength of our persuasion, our moral conviction, and our reliance upon Christ to bring salvation that defines the level of strength our faith possesses to accomplish great feats.  Faith is designed to work and toil; therefore, what we cannot afford to forget is that when our measure of faith is doing no work it is as lifeless (and unproductive) as a corpse. [For more on faith and works, read the Book of James, Chapter 2.]  I'm here reminded of a popular song recorded some years ago by gospel singer Vanessa Bell Armstrong entitled "Faith That Conquers."  Our ability to see the invisible, expect the incredible, and receive the impossible is totally dependent upon "the measure of faith" we've been given working and toiling to help us gain the strength required to take the necessary, consistent action that ultimately manifests results.