what kind of faith...

In reading about Elijah recently, I was thinking about how much faith he must have had. To go in front of a huge crowd of people, dump tons of water on an altar, and then ask God to burn the offering... he had to really have faith that God would do it. I believe God could do it, but... I am disappointed to have to say that somehow I think I would not have been able to do what Elijah did. I so want to be able to do that though. I want to have that kind of faith. To stand up in front of those people like he did... they must have thought he was crazy. Not that I care what people think of me... because I really couldn't care less, but just to believe like that. That is what I want.

In James chapter 5, it tells about how Elijah prayed for it to not rain, and it didn't rain. Then it tells us that he prayed for God to send rain after three and a half years, and it rained.... "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." (James 5:17-18) Every time I read these verses, I am reminded of our missions trip to Canada. One day when we were going to our park program, it was supposed to storm, and you could tell by looking at the sky that it could really start at any minute. We could not have our program if it stormed, so we prayed about it. We prayed that it would not rain. Well, all but one of us on my park program team prayed for it to not rain. One guy, Phil, prayed specifically for "sprinkles"... It did not storm on our program. It sprinkled though. And as our program was drawing to a close that afternoon, we could see the lightning starting in the distance and working its way toward us. We started to hear the thunder, and then... it began to rain. Not just sprinkle, but really rain hard, just as we finished up our program for the day and packed our stuff into the van.

That day has stuck with me for the four years since then... I always remember how we all prayed for it not to rain, but Phil prayed for sprinkles... and he got his sprinkles. God answers prayer. That was a direct answer. He doesn't always give us what we want in the way that we want it, but He always gives us what is best for us to have. He works everything together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) So then... why can we not just trust Him? Why don't we have faith like Elijah? It doesn't take a lot... Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20) I guess faith as small as a mustard seed is more than so many of us today have. I want some mustard seed faith. I want faith like Elijah.