Did you know the Bible teaches that there is something that amazes God?

Think about that.

The God who created the universe and performed every miracle we read about in the Bible is able to be amazed.

Do you know what it is that amazes Him?

Faith.

Faith is the only thing in Scripture that ever caused Jesus to stop and marvel.

It seems simple, but when Jesus encountered genuine faith, He stopped and took notice. In fact, there are only two instances in all of the Bible where we see Jesus amazed.

The first occurs when Jesus is speaking with a Gentile centurion. This man demonstrated a faith that caused Jesus to marvel.

Matthew 8:10 (CSB)
Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.”

The only other time Jesus was amazed was for the opposite reason. Not great faith, but deep unbelief.

Mark 6:6 (CSB)
And he was amazed at their unbelief.

The Gospel of Matthew, when speaking of this same instance, shows us the consequences of their lack of faith.

Matthew 13:58 (CSB)
And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

Because the people of Nazareth lacked faith, Jesus didn’t do many miracles there. The work of God in their lives was directly connected to their faith.

We have to be careful here. Just because you believe something doesn’t mean that it is going to happen. We can’t force God to act simply by believing hard enough.

But that said, the Bible is clear that God chooses to work through the faith of His people.

How does that work? I have no idea. It’s definitely on my “Things to ask God when I get to heaven” list. But until then, I don’t need to understand. After all, isn’t that the whole point of faith?