Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

There are times in our lives when we might think, “If I only had more faith!”

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

Confusion arises in the assumption that increase equals growth. The mistake is in the understanding of what faith is and how it acts. Jesus answers the apostles about their request for increased faith in an indirect manner. If faith is one grain, it is sufficient to perform the will of God in powerful ways, you don’t need a second grain of faith.

Romans 12:3c God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

God gives out faith by measure, not equally. You will never get more faith than what you are given. Rather than thinking of faith as something that can be multiplied, think of it as a muscle group. Some muscle groups consist of more than one muscle. Exercise that muscle group, they do not grow in numbers, they grow in strength.

Romans 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

Exercise your faith.

Proverb 3:20a, 23 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When you walk in darkness you cannot see what is tripping you up. I don’t think I am out of line here saying we stumble. The darkness I am speaking of is not spiritual darkness but rather mental awareness. It has become painfully aware to me these past two weeks that the past does not go quietly into the night. More than not, we ignore or learn to live with unresolved issues from our past.

I liken it to leaving your stuff on the floor rather than putting it away in storage. You learn to ignore it for the most part. You’ve learn to live with it to the point it doesn’t bother you consciously. But it is there and eventually you are going to trip over it.

What does that look like? For me it manifested itself in outbursts that were not in line with my character. A sharp word, a haughty look, a snide remark, ill humor, or perhaps inappropriate language are all signs that things are not normal, that you tripped on something. You might not even be aware of what set you off. Let me tell you what those things are called, triggers.

It isn’t that you are conscious of why you react as you do but rather that an old hurt is felt and in that moment, it was no longer in the past, it is in the present. We all have them to some degree. Most of us were raised in good homes. Some were raised in neglect and abuse. Some of us got help. Some of us don’t know we need help.

God knows everything about you and wants to help you move away from pain into peace. Not all things can be reasoned out by reading scripture. Not all things can be set right through prayer. Sometimes you just have to see a specialist. If you think of that as being weak, let my say God created specialist for a reason. After all God sent Aaron to Moses to help him with his insecurities.