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Print “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence from yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20). What is smaller than a mustard seed? Does anything come to mind? Okay, maybe sand granules, or spices ground up into tiny flakes. But 2,000 years ago when Jesus walked the earth, the mustard seed was the smallest form of scale or measurement. Even in today’s modern world, it is difficult to find anything smaller than the mustard seed (the seed of the orchid is the only thing that scientists declare inferior in size). So why did Jesus use the reference of the mustard seed, anyway? Why didn’t He say, “If ye have faith as a bird’s egg,” or “…faith as a small fish?” Well, depending on the species of bird, the egg size varies. And we know there are hundreds, maybe thousands of different fish out there—who would determine how small ‘small’ really is? Jesus picked a constant that could be used as an example for millenniums to come because He knew that we, as humans, are full of doubt—after all, He made us! By using the mustard seed, He made it possible for all of us to achieve at least that amount of faith. What exactly is faith? I’m sure we all know Hebrews 11:1 (“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”) by heart. The whole chapter is a definition of what faith is as we read how the great men and women of God in the Old Testament came through adversity. My favorite part reads, “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” (Hebrew 11:39). What promise? The Holy Ghost! Jesus had not yet come when those men and women walked the earth. Therefore, He had not yet died and come again to dwell in us as the Holy Ghost. These historic tales of faith were accomplished without the Holy Ghost in any one of them, and here we are today, Holy Ghost-filled Apostolics, more equipped than they to take on our adversaries! I don’t know about you, but that thought makes me excited about what we can do through Christ (see Philippians 4:13)! Now, I must point out one thing—having faith that God can do something doesn’t mean that it’s His will to make it happen. Even if we pray a prayer for 10 years and God still hasn’t answered, we still pray, in hopes or anticipation of what God will do in a situation. That is faith—knowing and relying on God to provide His response in His time because He knows what is best for us. When Jesus used the example of the mustard seed, at that time and region of the world, the black mustard seed was the smallest seed sown by farmers. But what many people probably don’t realize is that this minute seed sprouted a plant roughly 12 feet in height by the time it reached full maturity. The farmer no doubt cared for the plant, devoutly watering and caring for it, to see that it attained its full potential. Likewise, consider we have a little seed of faith in each of us, but it is our individual responsibility to care for our faith, diligently stretching it and molding it, as we walk along life’s journey. Encouraging others with their faith is important, too. At the end of life’s journey, may we stand together, a field of tall, strong mustard plants, waving in the wind as a testament to a lifetime of prayer and steadfastness.
ninetyandnine.com © 2005, Stacey Bowen ---------- Stacy Bowen is a thirty-something (ugh) who lives in Rochester, MI with her husband and their menagerie of pets. She is employed at a local courthouse and is looking forward to working in the up-and-coming library/bookstore at her church. She hopes to get her bachelors degree before she is eligible to collect Social Security. |
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