The Quiet Growth of Faith

As a child, I remember us talking about how on a quiet, humid night, we could hear the corn grow. I know that this sounds like a strange thing, but yes, it is possible to hear corn grow. Douglas Cook at New York University and Roger Elmore and Justin McMechan from the University of Nebraska were able to document the sound of corn growing in a time-lapse video that you can watch on YouTube. In the video, you hear the corn growing, and you see that there was approximately 1.25 inches of growth in the corn stalk over a period of 8 hours.

Recently, I was listening to a message about believers growing in their faith. One of the questions that was being answered was if growth in a believer's faith can be measured. Again, the answer is a resounding yes, believers should be growing in their faith, and it can be measured. Here are a few verses that talk about growing in faith:

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation..." 1 Peter 2:2
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..." Ephesians 4:15

If you were to take a full day and sit and watch corn grow, you probably would not see growth. But if you observe the height of corn one week and then observe it again two weeks later, you will most likely notice that the corn has grown. It is the same with each of us as believers. We may not see growth in our faith from day to day, but if we examine where we were in our faith a year ago versus today, we should see that we have grown in our faith.

So let me ask you a couple of questions: Have you taken time to stop and think about your faith in Christ recently? In what areas have you been challenged in your faith? How have you seen your faith grow over the last year? Paul makes it pretty clear that all believers should be on a path that leads to maturity. Are you growing and maturing in your faith? I hope that you are!

"...until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13