4 Important Types of Faith that Strengthen Your Trust in God

Everywhere you look the word faith seems essential. You hear so much about it. Of course, you do! It is the foundation of the Christian journey. You understand the meaning of incredible faith, or not enough, or lack of, or miraculous faith. Most Christians wish for more of God. But, what it boils down to is trust.

Faith = Trust.

These 4 important types of faith that strengthen your trust in God may shed some light on where your confidence rests.

Mustard-Seed Faith (Trust)

You’re standing, facing a mountain of trouble, seeing no possible way up, around, or over and you doubt God. You have some faith – a little trust, but it’s barely there. “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20).

Do you know how small a mustard seed is? It is about 1-2 millimeters around. Millimeters! In the 1970’s a company created a necklace with one mustard seed embedded within a transparent ball to enhance its size so you could see it. That’s how small this seed is.

Mustard-seed faith isn’t enormous. It’s minuscule. But Jesus said, with it, nothing would be impossible.

Ye of Little Faith (Trust)

Remember at the beginning of this blog I told you faith equals trust? Let me say the opposite statement: lack of faith equals lack of trust. When you only believe in yourself to tackle your difficulties, this leads to swollen pride. I won’t go into all the aspects and faces of pride, but reflect on the bold truth about it here…

When you have little trust in God, you are relying on yourself to handle most of your problems. A summary of James 1:1-8 says an unstable Christian is relying on God and the world. You’re in the same boat. You trust yourself to “figure out” your trouble instead of completely turning it over to God.

Welcome pride. Pride thinks she can solve your problems. She thinks no one else is smarter and takes control of every situation. Pride is impatient with how slowly God is responding to the circumstances. She steals your trust. Therefore, she takes away your faith in God.

To break away from your little faith, you first must break away from pride’s control. Check out my blog about pride to learn how.

Tested Faith (Trust)

I Peter 1:6-7 affirms the testing of your faith isn’t some game God plays. Peter said you “must endure trials for a little while,” but the trials show your faith is genuine. The words of verse seven should comfort and encourage you. They say when your “faith remains strong through these tests and trials you will receive much praise, glory, and honor when Jesus is revealed to the whole world.”

When faced with this test, and you pass, God strengthens your trust. Little by little, each test builds a stronger relationship between you and God. Then God leads you into those areas He knows you will trust Him fully to accomplished His will through you. Finally, you receive praise, glory, and honor for passing the test.

I am always amazed at the rewards God gives, aren’t you?

Growing Faith (Trust)

~ Trust Step-By-Step

Today I was thinking about my cat, Piper. She’s been a member of our family now for two years. There was no history about her except she was healthy and lived at the shelter for several years, in and out of foster homes. She didn’t know how to play or interact with us.

One day I visited the shelter’s social media page looking for some of her baby pictures. I was shocked to find a picture of her as a kitten three years in the past. My heart broke for Miss Piper kitty. She’d had no permanent home her entire life. No wonder she wasn’t a lap cat, and she didn’t know how to play. She didn’t want to connect with us because she didn’t trust that she would stay with us. She had no faith or trust she would become a permanent resident of our family. Because of time, she now trusts she will not return to the shelter.

I’m using this example because it takes time for your trust in God to build. Confidence in God usually takes baby steps. First, there is salvation – trusting Jesus died for your sins. Then over time and with experience, you believe him with small things. After He proves constant time and time again, you count on Him with more significant matters. You may even decide to devote yourself to Him through the act of sanctification. One day you’ll sit in His presence wearing your crown.

Trust God with your little things today. He’ll prove faithful. Then you’ll have the experience to trust him when the more significant things come (I Thessalonians 5:24, NIV).

~ Supplement your faith

Second Peter has much to say about enhancing your confidence, especially in the first chapter. Supplement means to support it, to add to it, to help it grow. He offers reasons why this is important, and how to accomplish it. If you’re wondering if you can build your trust, or how to achieve growth, please check out my article on how to supplement your faith. It might not look the way you expect, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the process.

Conclusion

In today’s world, the word faith doesn’t seem to hold as much meaning as it did during Bible times. The actual definition states “reliance, loyalty, or complete trust in God.” Looking at the types, which one might define your current trust status? Wherever you fall, your best option is to supplement your position for your trust in God to grow. Then through the balance of trust and faith, you’ll have stability in life.