FAITH IS ABOUT DOING. YOU ARE HOW YOU ACT, NOT JUST HOW YOU BELIEVE.
“If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move hence to yonder place,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you” (Matthew 17:20).Looking through eyes of faith, we see life in its proper perspective. To move a “mountain” (difficulty) we need to have BIG faith—right? No, not necessarily, according to the verse in Matthew 17:20, we need only enough faith as that of a small mustard seed (a 100% belief) and a mustard seed is very small. What do you do to keep yourself tied to your faith? You see nothing is impossible with God!
R. Youngdahl tells an interesting story of having received a gift he treasured—it was called a mustard seed remembrancer, and it received its name “remembrancer,” from the old royal court. A remembrancer was man hired to remind the people of important events taking place.
“The little mustard seed remembrancer has an interesting history. There was once a couple in Missouri whose lives were tense, anxious, and fearful, as many lives are in our world today. This husband and wife simply could not find any joy in living. One day they heard a message of faith delivered by a certain pastor in their town, and his message found lodging in their hearts. They started reading their Bible, and soon concluded that it would be helpful to find some reminder of this newborn faith and what it enabled them to do. Faith had transformed their living, yet they were very conscious of the fact that there were days in their Christian lives when faith grew weak and dim.”
In any Christian life there are moments of tribulation and doubt. This is why we need to employ certain techniques as we seek to make our faith grow stronger.
Youngdahl’s story continues—“Reading the Bible one day, this Missouri couple came to a verse in Matthew which gave them the answer they were seeking. “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed—nothing will be impossible unto you.” So what did they do? They went looking for mustard seeds and found some. They came upon a process whereby a mustard seed could be encased in a transparent ball. People could wear them on key chains, or around their necks, or carry them in their purses. The little mustard seed could be seen through this transparent ball. And thus goes the story of the mustard seed remembrancer.”
Every one of us can keep in our minds an image of the seed. Then, if fears start crowding in and we become anxious about what we must face, we can remember the promise that if we have faith as much as a grain of mustard seed, nothing is impossible—absolutely nothing.
In the passage of Matthew 17:14-21, we see in this remarkable story an illustration of the failures of religious presumption. The disciples earlier went out on a mission for Christ, and returned with the report that even the demons were subject to them—they could not cast out the demon. When Jesus was told, He simply said, “Bring him to me.” He was disappointed with what the disciples could not do. The disciples asked Jesus the reason for their failure, and He answered that it was because of their unbelief. And faith in Him, small as a grain of mustard seed but alive, will be honored to the extent of moving mountains. This word, “mountain” was a common Jewish metaphor for difficulty. Thus Jesus said, “Nothing will be impossible for you.” He then added a conditioning element—“This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”.
We always move beyond ourselves to Him as we hear His words, “Bring him to Me.” This faith will move mountains of difficulties, and life will always deal with possibilities.
