to another faith by the same Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:9
It is clear. Paul is saying that there is a gift of faith which is listed among the manifestation gifts. As I have already said in Bible Gem 243 on Rom 12:3 “The gift of faith is different from the faith we need in Christ to open the way to receiving His righteousness.” God has given us different measures of faith, the ability to believe for the impossible. To some people God has given a huge measure of faith. It is like they can believe for anything. They truly believe God can do ANYTHING. God uses them to inspire faith in others. But the level of their faith is above and beyond. That is why it inspires. It is not faith for salvation but a gift of faith. This gift of faith is listed among the manifestation gifts because such faith manifests God. God presences Himself around men and women of great faith. He inhabits the praises of His people and I believe He also inhabits the extraordinary faith of His people.
I believe some leaders have that measure of faith and conversely some don’t. To be a good leader and to inspire others one needs a measure of faith that is above the rest. Don’t let your theology get in the way of your faith. Don’t let your denomination get in the way of your faith. Your ability to believe God for the impossible feeds from and builds on the God experiences you have had. As I have seen God do some amazing things that knowledge of the certainty of His supernatural power becomes a catalyst to greater things ahead. That is the case for all of us. It is certainly true for Tania and I as we have walked this rather amazing journey. But I am not talking about that in commenting on the gift of faith. We all grow in our faith. Each time God does something new or each time we believe for the impossible and it comes to pass it inspires us to higher heights in Him. That is true. But that is not the gift of faith.
During my time as Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators NZ I was privileged to meet many world leaders in the Kingdom of God. I have noticed there are some who have the gift of faith and there are those who don’t. The gift of faith is God given. We can’t summon it up. We do that with our experiential faith. Because of what God has done in the past I can trust him for this next step. That is why the Lord had the children of Israel set up monument stones (Joshua 4). When He worked miracles in their midst they were to build a memorial to that so future generations would know what He did there. This inspires faith. We should all do it. Leaders especially should do. Those who have the gift of faith do it naturally. But the true gift of faith is not that. It is not a matter of summoning faith on the basis of what you have seen or experienced.
There have been times for us in the past when I have seen the clear difference between the two. There are times when my faith is by virtue of my past experience and times when the faith that I have at a given moment is granted by God for that moment. I won’t bore you with more examples. (I am writing our story in a book; read about it there.) I have seen that true inspiring leaders operate at that level not just occasionally but frequently if not all the time. And I hasten to add I am not talking about those leaders who “talk it up” to inspire the troops. No, I am talking about a gift of faith that comes from within for that moment in time. I have known it in myself and I have seen it in others.
There is a gift of faith given by God by His grace for the moments we need it. Learn to discern it and above all, learn to operate in it when it is present.
Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.
Rabindranath Tagore
Fear knocked at the door and faith answered. No one was there.
Old English Proverb
Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.
Anon
Faith is spiritualized imagination.
H.W. Beecher