"'Have faith in God' Jesus answered." Mark 11:22

'Faith like potatoes' is a film based on a true story of how Angus Buchan, a South African farmer, became a Christian and put all his faith in God, praying for rain and receiving miracles. As I watched this film, a few things became apparent to me about God, and about my faith. One scene in particular struck me as an interesting analogy of how we see God and our own faith. In the scene, a woman had been struck by lightening. God worked through Angus and brought her back to life. I wondered what the woman must have experienced, if she knew she had been dead and raised to life? I thought, probably not, because she was unconscious. And it occurred to me that perhaps that is how we lead our lives; because we exist, and know nothing else, we take life for granted and do not realise that it is only because of God that our lives are sustained. Much like Lamentations 3:21 – 23: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” We have the privilege of waking up every day, not because we so choose, but because God allows it and protects us from things that would otherwise crush us spiritually and physically.


“Your faith should be like potatoes” Angus says in another scene – “smell it, touch it!” Faith should be real, simple, designed for and by God. What an amazingly inspiring way of explaining something that so many people struggle with! I’ve come to understand that God goes much deeper than our faith – much deeper! “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4) Not only can and does He work according to His own will, and not our desires or faith, but He also works regardless of our perception of faith. And perhaps we are trying to make faith a more complicated thing than it actually is. “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” (James 2:18). How simple is that!? We recognise that we believe in Jesus Christ and that He died for our sins (1 John 3:23), and then show it in our deeds. What are those deeds?

“He has shown you, o mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8).

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37 – 39).

“This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” (1 John 5:3 – 4)

This implies that love for God is not necessarily an emotion. Emotions are fleeting and unpredictable, but God is never changing. And so our faith shouldn’t be based on emotions either. If we believe, we must act – this is true faith! God gave us a choice to believe or not to believe. Let’s not complicate it. Let’s have faith like potatoes!

”By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Proverbs 24.3-4

Sometimes, my heart is deceived into dark thoughts. I think we’ve all been there. Many of us dwell in that place, because it’s comfortable and easy. To resist that heavy aching requires energy, effort, sacrifice. How is it that we can feel the truth and the Power of the Lord in one moment, and in the next, feel absolutely powerless? How is it that we repeatedly surrender to our own desires, when we have the comfort of a truth that reaches far beyond our deepest doubts and fears?

This life isn’t about understanding, or feeling, or achieving. None of these bring full satisfaction. The only understanding we need is that God is an amazingly caring and faithful God who is greater than we can ever imagine.

Who is God? He is the One who created heaven and earth, you and me, my heart and my soul. He created all the days of every year within time itself, and the seasons that bring the cold and the warmth of the sun, He is the One who created and ‘is’, and in His great faithfulness, fulfilled a promise to make us worthy to be His children, even while we were still sinners (Romans 5.8)!

The comfort of this life is that there is One who understands our every thought and feelings far better than we do ourselves. He knows our comings and our goings, our intentions and our habits. There is nowhere we can go where our Creator is not (Psalm 139).

“All my longings lie open before You, O Lord: my sighing is not hidden from You.” (Psalm 38.9)

God understands our desires and our dreams. He knows the whispers of our hearts, because He created the very beat that sustains those hearts.

Who are we to grumble at our situations? When in fact, what we perceive to be hardships may be the very blessings God has given to us because He loves us and wants us to grow in spirituality and maturity (James 1.2).

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to You.” (James 4.8). How simple. How true. How wonderful!

”My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.” Proverbs 23.26.


What does it mean to surrender to God? In a world full of distractions, anything can become an idol. There’s a fine line between needing something and depending on something so much it becomes our god. I think there are many aspects to surrendering to God, but first we must literally surrender to Him and let Him take over. What follows is then just a result of that. It’s a matter of recognising our own weakness in comparison to His strength, and letting Him lead us. Which then means acknowledging that we can’t depend on anything else. We need air to breath, but we depend on God to provide. We need food to eat, but we depend on God to provide. We need people around us, but we depend on God to provide.

When I first came to understand this, I was very stubborn. It was difficult to depend on Someone I couldn’t see, had never heard speak audibly, a presence I had never felt. I wanted to believe, but there was always a little voice inside that niggled and nagged, and got me thinking about why I shouldn’t rely on this. But as time goes by, I can add little chunks of ‘life’ to my treasures; safely guarded lessons that have helped me understand that God works through patience and in time. Because I have persevered, I have experienced the joy that comes with surrendering. It’s hard to give something up totally in the first instance, but after a while the benefits become apparent. It may not become easier to surrender all to God – indeed, I doubt very much that I have surrendered EVERYTHING to Him – but it certainly becomes clear how much value is added to our lives because of it. In fact, it’s more a matter of adding value to our souls, not our lives. All because the jewels of a relationship start shining through those dark clouds of doubt and fear.
God may not be like us humans – we certainly can’t hear Him (at least, not all the time), feel Him, touch Him, see Him. But He’s real, and we can only touch on His power and love and perfection when we look around and realise that He created everything. And as we accept that there is a powerful Being who created us, our bodies and our souls out of nothing, “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139.14), He can truly change our hearts and renew our minds (Romans 12.2). And I can say that with an honest heart, because I feel physical joy when I think of the love He lavishes on us, when I realise how blessed I am, and as I learn more about who He is and what He’s done.

There’s a saying that goes ‘God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called’ – how true! No knowledge or training can be imparted in an instance (Ephesians 4.11 – 13). Rather, it takes time. Equally, we cannot expect to be perfect in God’s eyes straight after surrendering all to Him. It is true, Jesus’ made us perfect in God’s eyes through His sacrifice (Hebrews 10.14), but it’s still important for us to act according to God’s will, and to become more like Him – holy and pure (Matthew 5.48).
Letting go of everything in our lives is a learning process. God knows us, He knows our hearts, our habits and who we think we are. So it’s an easy job for Him to lead us in the right direction – if God can do anything, He won’t be unsuccessful in saving us, we just have to be willing to let Him do so.
So, surrendering to God is giving up everything; giving up a love for anything materialistic, giving up a devotion that is spent entirely on people perhaps even giving up our hopes, dreams and desires. Because, the truth is, our lives are a glimpse; “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40.8), and there is nothing else worth living for other than God Himself, Creator of everything.
It sounds simpler than it is, so I’ll leave you with these Bible verses to contemplate, ponder, wonder:


"Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God Himself will fight for you." Deuteronomy 3.22

"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still" Exodus 14.14

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wondered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in front of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in His own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honour and might forever. Amen." 1 Timothy 6.6-16

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10.4

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15.12

"Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." John 12.25

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12.2

"Yet You, Lord, are our Father, We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64.8

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12.1-2