More Faith, Less Fluff

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

I accidentally put one of my favorite “lay flat to dry” sweaters in the dryer. Somewhere in the last fluff cycle, somebody must’ve slipped in and traded it for some kind of little teddy bear sweater. What am I supposed to do with this? I guess now I have to buy a little teddy bear.

Relatedly, I’ve heard the same thing happens with invisibility cloaks. People don’t tell you not to machine dry those things. Or maybe it’s on the label. But reading an invisible label? Not easy. And you still end up with an invisibility hanky.

Since the introduction of machines for washing and drying, most of us have experienced mystic laundry in some realm or another. The proof? Socks. Scary things happen to socks. One. At. A. Time. 

I don’t go for that magical stuff, so I wouldn’t know black magic from any other color, but I do know that you should always separate your darks from your lights.

On the spiritual side of life, it’s still advisable to separate dark from light. O heavenly Father, may I live in uninterrupted faith in Jesus, the Light of the world.

I really do want a faith that shows up. Visible. Large enough that everyone knows it’s never been tumble-dried. Isn’t it interesting that when the disciples asked Jesus to give them a large faith, Jesus answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you’” (Luke 17:5, HCSB). Again in Matthew 17:20, we see where Jesus said, “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you,’” (HCSB).

You could tumble dry faith—even on the perma-press cycle—and it would still be the perfect size to accomplish enormous things. Impossible things. It’s not about the size of the faith. It’s all about where the faith is placed. Faith in Jesus and obedience to His lordship. That’s what separates the dark life from real life in the light. And in the light, faith becomes so beautifully visible.

“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For our ancestors won God’s approval by it. By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible,” Hebrews 11:1-3, HCSB. God created everything we see and everything we don’t. Every time we ponder His creative power and remember that there is nothing in the universe too hard for Him, our faith grows.

Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. As we study our Creator through His word and learn more about His power, His character, His trustworthiness, His love and His mercy, our faith grows yet more. We find new confirmation that He is all we need. It’s the setting for a strong faith—one that everyone around can see. Gloriously visible. And that’s always worth pondering. 

That invisibility hanky? Not so much. It’s too easy to mistake it for a dryer sheet. Next thing you know, you can’t find any of your socks.

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Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist for lots of great magazines, including HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway and more. She is the author of 10 nonfiction books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? and coauthors fiction with her daughter, Kaley Faith Rhea. She and her daughters host the TV show, That’s My Mom, for Christian Television Network’s KNLJ. Rhonda enjoys traveling the country speaking at all kinds of conferences and events. She and her pastor/hubs have five grown children and live in the St. Louis area.