Building My Faith Muscles

“…if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”           Matthew 17:20 (WEB)

Have you ever seen a mustard seed. I have a small bottle of them in my cupboard. I used it in some recipe so long ago that if I needed mustard seeds again – I would go buy some fresh ones! The next time you go to the grocery store check out mustard seeds on the spice aisle. A mustard seed is about the size of the letter “o” in the current font print that I am using for the writing. Now consider that this is Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, saying that all I need is faith the size of this tiny seed. The seed is made more tiny when I think of its size in comparison to God’s idea of size, being the Universe Maker that He is! Faith, tiny faith, in God and mountains will move. Just like that!

I met a man, Lou David Allen, this week through his blog, “What’s a Snake doing in Paradise?”.  Mr. Allen said,

“We should have faith, enough to move a mountain, as Jesus said, but this faith is not for physical mountains, but spiritual ones.”

Mr. Allen nailed the difficulty in my faith. It is the mountain in my mind that seems too large for me to believe that it can possibly be moved. Jesus says that nothing will be impossible. Jesus speaks only the truth so where is the problem in my faith? In my head! How do you build a muscle? Exercise it! And so it is with faith. I must exercise my faith. Flex my faith all day and every day. There is no part of my day, no person that I meet, no situation that comes in my path that can not benefit from a flex of my faith. Think it! Speak it! Believe it!

A practical point to note: Journal or prayer notebook are exercise equipment in my walk of faith. When my faith seems small or weak, jot down notes of what is on my heart. And watch God work! See how He molds me. See how He answers.

He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”     Matthew 13:31-32 (WEB)

And as faith grows it is great and big! Others may see the testimony of growing faith and find their own ‘home’ and place of refuge as they put their faith (even a mustard seed) in Jesus Christ.