Faith.
The word conjures a religious picture in our minds. Believing in something bigger than us. Taking a leap into the unknown. We think of spiritual giants like David and Abraham. More often than not, faith is painted as a colossal spiritual accomplishment.
It is intriguing to read about how Jesus describes faith.
Awakening faith
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” (Matthew chapter 13, verses 31-32).
When we make the decision to follow Jesus and trust Him, that is the beginning of faith in Him. It may start with a mustard seed of simply believing that Jesus is God. When that seed of tiny faith is tended to well, it will grow. If we look at the last part of verse 32, we will also see that faith does not only grow, it blesses others and glorifies God.
In Matthew chapter 17, verse 20, Jesus once again talks about what a mustard seed sized faith can do. Responding to His disciples questions on why they couldn’t heal a demon possessed boy, Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
A mustard seed sized faith
Let’s reflect on this a moment. A mustard seed. Do you know how small a mustard seed is? You can draw a dot with a pencil, and that’s roughly the size of a mustard seed. Yet, here is Jesus extoling that even a tiny sized faith is able to do what seems like a mammoth of a job.
Do you realize that we often do the opposite? Our views and thoughts of faith are often based on circumstances. Have you ever went, “Wow, that person has so much of faith. I’m not sure if I do. I’m not sure if I can ever have that much faith.”
We look at how difficult, big, depressing or traumatizing a situation is to decide the measure of one’s faith. The bigger the accomplishment, the more we marvel at his or her faith for standing firm on God’s truth. If a person falters in a certain situation, we may say the person has little faith or needs more faith.
We see what we can do and declare the measure of our faith. “I can’t move that mountain, so I must have little faith.” On the other hand, Jesus measured faith and declared what it could accomplish. “With faith as small as mustard seed, you can move this mountain.”
Shifting our focus
We need to shift our focus from the mountains to our faith. You see our faith is not a blind faith. It is not a close-my-eyes and leap into the unknown kind of faith.
Our faith is in Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again. It is a faith based on the Word of God that has withstood time. Shifting our focus and understanding this simple truth will unlock the door that stifles the growth our faith.
It’s time for us, God’s people, to stop shivering at the mountain and questioning the measure of our faith.
That tiny faith of yours? Look at it. Declare what it can do. It certainly can move mountains.