O You of Little Faith

Louisa Ikena reflects on faith and doubt in light of a phrase from the Gospel of Matthew.

Fear and doubt are very real for me. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read how Jesus calms the storm.

He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

Faith and peace are what I want. Grace and peace, I long for. Stress and worry can take root in my heart. I am right there, with the disciples, panicking.

How easy is it to look back in hindsight at a difficult, trying situation and insert the phrase, “O you of little faith.” They say that hindsight is 20/ 20, and with that clear vision it is easy to speak about faith and doubt with a sense of freedom and reassurance.

But what is it like to speak of faith and doubt in the midst of the unknown? In the midst of an ongoing, compelling saga? In short, in the light of eternity?

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

I love thinking about faith as realization and evidence, as the author of the letter to the Hebrews emphasizes. I need to vision and dream and really hope for. That perspective is precisely what faith can realize. As a teenager I once heard faith taught as an acronym: Forsaking All I Trust Him. We continue to lay all our burdens and stresses at the foot of the Cross. Then, with my hands emptied and upstretched, I am open to receive exactly what I need from Our Lord. Putting Jesus first in my life and in my heart, I get the opportunity to trust Him completely. The beautiful image of Divine Mercy comes to mind: Jesus, I trust in You. St. Faustina, pray for us.

The disciples are admonished by Jesus at least five times in the Gospel of Matthew with the phrase, “O you of little faith” (Matthew 6:30, Matthew 8:26, Matthew 14:30, Matthew 16:8, and Matthew 17:20). That fact comforts me a bit as I navigate through the ebbs and flows of my leaps of faith and seasons of doubts.

The variety of contexts of these Biblical conversations is important to highlight. The Sermon on the Mount contains “O you of little faith.” So do stories of Jesus walking on water and the apostles' inability to drive out a demon. But this is the instance of the phrase I want to focus on:

He got into a boat and his disciples followed him.Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep.They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. (Matthew 8:23-26)

The disciples were terrified, and where was Jesus? Asleep! How many times does this dynamic play out in my life? Through a violent storm in my world that rocks my boat, Our Lord is asleep. It is easy to forget He’s there, He’s here, ready to calm my every storm. But what I glean out this Gospel account is that I need to call on Jesus before I panic. I call on the Name of the Lord first, not as a last resort. That aspect is what I hear Our Lord rebuking in me along with the waves. “O you of little faith” and “Why are you terrified?” are phrases that remind me to put my faith in Jesus and truly trust. The Creator of the cosmos continues to calm storms and the winds and waves in my heart.

Those stresses big and small are very real. Another phrase comes to my mind: How important is it? Will that storm or thing that is stressing me out be important five hours from now? Five months from now? Five years from now? Five decades from now? How important is it really? Come, Holy Spirit, inspire our hearts to allow the peace of Christ to reign in our hearts (Colossians 3:15), not allowing stress to reign.

Click to tweet:
I need to call on Jesus before I panic. #CatholicMom

Faith does not come easily, at times, in this unbelieving world. I am challenged to remember God, much less to remember to put Him first. Yet there are things that I am in control of in my life—namely my choices. I can choose what I deliberately take in through my eyes, my ears, and my mouth. I can choose to surround myself with people and things that remind me to pray. I can strive to give God the Glory in everything I do.

And when I fall short again and again and again, I can turn back to God over and over and over. I am restored to calm and peace and faith and acceptance, even as I hear His words again: “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”

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