I planted mustard seed. Well, I put my first seed in the dirt last weekend. It didn’t hit me until later, but it was a little sentimental for me. The physical act of sowing mustard seeds in the ground, turned out to also be a physical act of faith and healing for me. I knew I needed to do it for reasons that are personal and symbolic to me. I kept feeling a nudge to do it. Not being able to shake the feeling, I finally did it. If you’ve been reading my blog as of late, then ya already know that my dad and I are growing a garden. If not, guess what? My dad and I are planting a garden!
Matthew 17:20 is one of two Gospel accounts in the Bible about a mustard seed, “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…” and in Luke 17:6 “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” The mustard seed is also mentioned in Mark 4:31 “It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds,” and once again, in Matthew 13:31 another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.”
The Mustard Seed Was a Metaphor
So, we see that in biblical times, the mustard seed was used to measure. It was very small. Jesus was using it as a metaphor to say, you don’t need to muster up more faith (pun intended). You only need this small amount of faith about the size of this tiny mustard seed. God’s work does not rest upon our works, or our mustering up a bunch of hype, or power of our own making. As popular as platforms, TED Talks and influence are today, none of it is necessary. All of that might be beneficial, but not necessary, instead it is our faith in HIM. He is the one who does the moving, not us. He is the one with all of the might, not us. We plant something so tiny, as this mustard seed, and it grows into the biggest thing in the garden.
Faith to Forgive
THIS is my favorite. Luke 17:6 relates the mustard seed to unforgiveness. If you read the passage before it, you will discover that he was teaching on forgiving others 70 x 77 times. Who can do that? NOT ME. We don’t have to muster up the faith to do that either! It is with the smallest amount of childlike, mustard seed faith in Him that makes forgiveness possible.
These verses are personally very special to me. There have been many times in my life, when I felt like I did not even want to take the next steps in front of me because they were so difficult and painful, and God reminded me of Matthew 17:20. “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…” I didn’t have to do all of it all alone. I only needed to put my faith in Him that’s it. Little, bitty mustard size faith!
Faith to Move Forward
So many times we look around, and it’s easy to see all of the glamour and grandiosity in our culture. It can look like everyone is living the BIG life, but that is not always the Kingdom of God. Sometimes that’s a BIG LIE. It’s not all about us and what we can do. Sure, God does do big things through us sometimes, but it’s often through small steps of faith. Often times God is at work in the little things (like the mustard seed he asks us to plant), and he will require us to do something in the physical realm to demonstrate our faith, or obedience. (A few examples from the Bible Gen 22, Joshua 6, Gen 5-10, Ex. 14, Matthew 14:13-21, and many others). One of those steps for me, was to physically plant my mustard seeds.
There was a release and connection with these verses for me and the physical act of sowing the seeds, releasing the past, and attachments is very healing. I will admit that it felt a bit silly to do, and I had to get beyond a little pride and trust. If you have an area in your life that feels like a mountain, I encourage you, pray and ask God to move your mountains. Maybe it’s unforgiveness, or finances. It only takes the faith of a mustard seed.
What nudges of faith have you experienced? Have you ever felt prompted to take a physical action based on faith or a promise God has given you?
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