Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– J.C. Ryle
Faith Versus Reason
Perhaps many don’t believe in God because they don’t want to be under submission to Him. The fact is, unbelievers know that God exists, they simply suppress this knowledge (Rom 1:18), so they have no excuse (Rom 1:20), but we who know God can pray even when our brains (reason) tell us otherwise. I will take a faith over a ton of reason any day.
Mustard Seed Faith
A tiny bit of faith is better than no faith at all, but if we trust Jesus, then listen to what He says about faith; “if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matt 17:20). Our faith is similar to the kingdom of God where “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” (Mark 4:31-32). When we receive what we’ve prayed for, then our faith grows and grows, so even if you have a little faith, it is better than having no faith at all, isn’t it?
Seeing With the Eyes of Faith
When the Apostle Peter asked Jesus if he could come to Him as He walked on the water, he understood that he’d have to walk on water too like Jesus was…and Peter did, at least until he started noticing the wind and the waves. That’s when he began to sink. The problem wasn’t the wind and the waves, because Peter had been walking on those same waves. It was only when he took his eyes off of Jesus that he began to sink. The lesson is, keep your eyes on Jesus and see with the eyes of faith, and not with the eyes of flesh which tend to focus on the wind and the waves of our life.
Conclusion
J.C. Ryle certainly knew his Bible because he said, “Even when our faith is small, the Lord is ready to help us,” and so if reason is overriding your faith, look to Jesus and know that even a tiny bit of faith is infinitely more valuable than our reason is, and try to see things through the eyes of faith.
