Right now I am watching my baby sleeping peacefully beside me, but a couple of years ago, I faced what may have been my hardest test of faith. I was struggling with a second miscarriage.

Before I knew for certain we had lost our baby, I prayed and tried to have faith that God would work in my body and in my baby despite how circumstances seemed at the time. In our Sunday School lesson that week we studied the passage where Jesus raised Jaris’s daughter. I read how Jesus told Jarius to just believe (Mark 5:36). I wanted to take that as a sign that God would restore our baby. I wanted to have faith and just believe everything was alright.

But when it wasn’t, I couldn’t help but wonder if my lack of faith was the reason I didn’t experience the miracle for which I longed. 

Jesus’s disciples begged our Savior, “Lord, increase our faith.” He didn’t reply with a how-to lesson, but an illustration on how very little faith is necessary to move mountains. Just a mustard seed. That’s all.

The reason our little faith produces big effects is not because our faith is so strong. 

The object of our faith makes the difference.

Faith in ourself, faith in our spouse, faith in our children, faith in our jobs.

All of these can fail.

And it’s not faith in faith that “works.”

Sometimes we think, “If I just believe hard enough, everything will all work out.”

When facing a test of faith, the effects of our faith are in direct proportion to the object of our faith.

And Jesus must always be the object of our faith.

Faith in Jesus alone, though its size may seem insignificant, is enough. It is not the size of our faith, but the power of our Savior that works miracles.

First, God saves us through faith: For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. Ephesians 2:8

Then, we live the Christian life through the same faith: 

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NKJV

When Jesus is the object of our faith, we trust Him in all circumstances. We have faith that He is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28). 

When we have faith in faith and things don’t turn out like we want, we often blame our  faith. “If only I would have had more faith, then ___________.”

This is where my thoughts went after my miscarriage. If only I had more faith, would the results have been different?

Through much prayer, I realized I was putting my faith in “faith.”

Faith in Faith does NOT cause miracles.

If our faith is in Jesus and things don’t go the way we hoped or prayed, we have still faith in Jesus’s love for us that goes beyond our current disappointment. We trust He knows best and is working first for His glory, then for our good.

I still do not understand many of the sorrows of life. Although my miscarriages seem very insignificant in comparison to many, I still grieve.

Yet in my grief, my faith remains in Jesus. I came through my test of faith and my questions trusting He is working for His glory and my good. 

I do not know what test of faith you are facing. Maybe it’s sickness, divorce, financial difficulty, stress, depression, or any of hundreds of worries; however, I do know the One who is worthy of our faith even when our circumstances hide His plan.

Faith does not mean we get all we want. 

Faith in Jesus means we trust that what He provides is what we need.

Remember, it is the object of our faith, not faith itself that works miracles. Sometimes we see those miracles in the physical world, but sometimes God works those miracles in the deep recesses of our hearts. 

My faith is in Jesus. Where is yours?

Want to know more about faith?

True faith begins with saving faith. Read Know Jesus, Share Jesus for more about putting your faith in Him for salvation.