Growing Faith by Small Steps – Matthew 15–17; Mark 7–9

Come, Follow Me: New Testament 2023 (April 10-16)

“Remember when you see a man at the top of a mountain, he didn’t fall there.” (anon) 

It’s common to see others at the peak of where we want to go and forget they had to do hard work to get there. Peter is one of my favorite examples of this truth.

From the time he was chosen to be a disciple of Christ, Peter was growing in faith, evidenced by his walking on water! “…And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (Matthew 14:29). At that moment in time, Peter demonstrated a measure of great faith. But, like any beginner, he became distracted with the wind and waves, and doubt rushed in. 

When Jesus asked him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” I wonder if Christ wasn’t chastising Peter as much as encouraging him to honor his little faith and continue to practice sharpening his focus on Christ and limiting worldly, noisy distractions.

And grow it, Peter did. When asked, “But whom say ye that I am?” Simon Peter answered firmly, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Days of observing, listening, helping, supporting Jesus resulted in significant growth of Peter’s faith. 

I hope Peter kept practicing walking on water, measuring his faith by the steps he took without sinking. But how do we know if our faith is growing? How can we measure progress? President Nelson has provided this self-measurement tool: How much does God prevail in your life?

Right now, rate the percentage of time you let God prevail in your life. How many times in the day do you think of Him, learn of Him, or listen to the whisperings of the Spirit? Whether it’s five minutes or five hours, could you increase it by 1%? Tiny steps done consistently and persistently is how Peter grew his faith. It’s how we grow ours.

“It is He who knows when a sparrow falls that is likewise focused on the minute as well as the momentous moments in our lives and who is ready right now to assist you in whatever your 1 percent quest is…. Because every effort to change we make—no matter how tiny it seems to us—just might make the biggest difference in our lives.” (Elder Michael A. Dunn, October 2021 General Conference)