Have you ever seen a mustard seed? It is extremely small……..barely visible to some….and small enough to lose within your own palm. So what does mustard have to do with faith?
First, mustard comes from a variety of plants with yellow
flowers and a very pungent smell.
Second, think of a seed as a source or beginning which when fertilized
becomes an embryo capable of developing into a plant. A big plant! Combine those two things and you
have an emerging flower or plant that develops or “grows” into something so
much larger than can be imagined by looking at one tiny seed! Wow! Think of that! Tiny, little seedlings can become a glorious and
huge plant! That is what faith is like…..
In the beginning, faith may be quite undetectable, hardly noticeable. Yet, when the Gospel is preached, on TV or
the radio (the old fashioned way), a podcast, in a church, a Bible study
online, on a billboard or whatever way captures a person’s heart, one may think,
there may be something to that message of hope.
The thought percolates and the person thinks perhaps, I should learn
more about what they teach and why. And
so, they start exploring the teachings of the faith. How did it start? Who started it? What do they believe? How did they come to believe that? Is there any truth to what they believe? Yes, when a person finds faith, they find
that the beliefs are good, right and true.
They choose to keep learning and their faith grows. Then, grows some more until they truly know
and understand what they believe and why.
Or at least, that was my experience, way back when….1970’s. Our family attend the Overbrook Presbyterian
Church in Columbus, OH where I learned about the Presbyterian Church and what
they believed in a Catechism class. Week after week, we explored what it meant
to be a “Presbyterian.” We learned how
the church was founded and what is was founded upon. Plus, the church was beautiful! It had gorgeous stained glass windows and a
sanctuary that evoked the presence of God to me. I “felt” His presence when I entered the sanctuary
each Sunday and on the nights of youth fellowship when we snuck into the
darkened church and tried to “find God.”
It was there I found God for the first time.
I was confirmed in the church after one year of training and
learning about the catechism of the church.
It was different that anything I learned in school and had a depth that
I have not learned about before. I became “confirmed” at age 13. Since I declared my faith at that point, I
was able to take communion. It was a
glorious day to taste the bread and the grape juice. I felt “all grown up!”
I received my first very own Bible and a church hymnal which I
still have today and use the hymnal quite often while playing the piano. The rhythm and music of the hymns are
embedded deep in my heart from years of singing them. The lyrics swirl in my head many days when I
cannot find my way or on days when I feel inexpressible joy! I believe that joy comes from my deep faith
in the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is the
buoyancy of my life that I feel as JOY. He
anchors me and soothes my restless heart on days of peril and comforts me with His
quiet love and peacefulness on other days.
One of the very first verses in scripture that I memorized comes
from Hebrews 11:1 which says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.” Truly,
faith is hope in something completely invisible and unseen. So, how does one place their “faith” in
something they cannot see? It is a
matter of the heart and soul. There is
something so deep about reading about the life of Jesus in the Bible. Learning
about how He came to earth to save us. This teaching is crucial and disturbing
at the same time. Why would someone
leave paradise and come to earth to be scorned, tortured and die for us? That’s a bit crazy, don’t you think? Yet, that is exactly what Christ did.
Matthew 17:20 says: “So Jesus said to them, “Because of your
unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there, and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Wow! In the verses just
before this verse, the disciples had just witnessed Jesus rebuking a demon out
of a possessed man. They watched a child
be cured before their very eyes. And
they asked Jesus: “Why could we not cast him out?” And so, he answered them. Their faith was not yet there. But, IF they
believed with the faith of the size of a mustard seed – a tiny, little seed –
they would be able to do many things to bring about healing and love.
Faith. The assurance of
things NOT seen.
Is your faith tiny, small, almost undetectable? Great!
Let it grow! If it has been with
you since childhood, fantastic!! There
is still room to GROW. And, if you are
thinking about learning more for the very first time, that would be wonderful!!!
He’s waiting for you.
He’s knocking at the door of your heart.
There is no handle on His side of the door though….You must open the
door!
