Before I get started with my topic for this post, I wanted to let you know that I believe that God is answering the second of the three requests that I spoke about in previous posts, and I hope to be able to talk about it soon. I am still trusting God for the answer to the third. Of course I have added others. What are you trusting God for in your life? If I could ask you what it was, could you say it out loud? There is a passage in the Bible that says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." I was trying to get my grandson to try chicken pot pie last night. I love chicken pot pie, and I had the idea that he might like it, too, if he tried it. But, of course, he said he didn't like it before he tried it, which is what children often do. But that is what we do. God says, "Try Me," and we say, "I'm probably not going to like it, so why try." You can't just sit there and theoretically enjoy the goodness of God. You have to taste it! The reason I asked if you could say out loud what you are trusting God for, is that I believe you need to commit to it, if you want God to answer it. I hope you understand what I mean.
Hey! East more beef!
There is a passage in Matthew, chapter 17, that is familiar to many people, because it talks about faith the size of a mustard seed that is able to move mountains. Jesus says, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." He was talking to His disciples, who had been unable to cast a demon out of a boy. He told them that it was because of the "littleness" of their faith. There are two things about this saying, dare we say promise, of Jesus that have always puzzled me. One, moving a mountain seems, not just impossible, but ridiculous. Don't be offended that I called it ridiculous. I think, if we are going to understand what Jesus means, we need to embrace the sheer craziness of it. I mean, moving a mountain, that's impossible, isn't it? Was Jesus using hyperbole to make a point? I can't think of anywhere else in the gospels where Jesus exaggerated for effect. If God is God, He can do anything, right? The problem is that I have never seen that done, so it is difficult for me to imagine a mountain moving to a different place. It is also difficult to imagine the sun standing still, but the Bible records that God did that for Joshua. Do you need a literal mountain moved? Neither do I. Jesus, Himself, didn't do anything, unless He saw the Father do it first. In other words, He was able to discern what His Father was doing in the world and follow along. So this is not an open invitation to use your super powers so every one can see how awesome you are. It is power to accomplish what God has given you to do, not matter how impossible it may seem. I wonder, though, if maybe someday, somebody is going to need an actual mountain moved. Jesus deliberately chooses a mountain to contrast the size of a mustard seed, and to help us to see that nothing will be impossible to us.
Two, it is puzzling that Jesus says the disciples have little faith, but then tells them about faith like a little mustard seed. We understand that He uses the example of the mustard seed because it is tiny. But I don't think it is little in the same way the disciples' faith was little (and ours?). Our faith is little because it is focused on little things. It's like we don't really believe we are God's children. We are just His hired hands. So we ask God for small favors. We don't want to trouble the boss with big stuff. If we ask for big things, we have trouble believing it, because it is hard for us to conceive, not only of a God that big, but of a God that is interested in us.
If you look at the original language, Jesus doesn't say, "the size of a mustard seed," He says, "as a mustard seed" ('a grain of mustard'). So He is comparing faith, not just to the size of the mustard seed, but to the character of the mustard seed. A mustard seed is known to grow into a big tree pretty quickly. If you have a tiny seed in your hand, it is no different from a speck of dirt. It is packed with life, but you are never going to know it if it stays in your hand. You have to throw it in the dirt. You have to let go of what is in your hand and let it die and be buried in the ground. You know what happens, next? Nothing, usually. But eventually something happens. Mark 4:27 says, "the seed sprouts and grows - how, he himself (the sower) does not know."
I follow a pastor who talked about this recently. He walked into a room full of students and discerned that someone in that room was praying for $500. He asked if this was so, and a student raised her hand. He pulled a $50 bill out of his wallet and said, "This isn't $500, but it has $500 in it, and he gave it to her. That evening, she was waiting in line at the grocery store, and there was someone in line who couldn't pay for their groceries. She paid for the groceries, herself, with the $50 the pastor had given her. When she went home, she found that $500 had come to her from an unexpected source.
Here is another example, especially so that you won't think it is just about the money. There was a girl who dreamed of having a professional singing career. She had talent and desire. She wanted to give her singing voice to God. She was faithful, but, she had no opportunity. She prayed a prayer, giving her dream to God, and sensing she needed to lay it aside. Within two weeks, through a series of unlikely events, Taya Smith was recording the song, "Oceans," which has now touched the hearts of millions of people.
Your faith might be small, but if it is focused on a big God, who loves you and calls you His child, then "nothing will be impossible for you."