He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell 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.” – Matt 17:20
That famous mustard seed. People love to talk how small it is. It’s smaller that a pepper seed. Really very tiny. But yet this verse above tells us, even a mustard seed can do wonders. It really got me thinking a lot about this. Yes, this mustard seed was in my thoughts today as I struggled to get through the day with all the anxieties and worries this morning. As I prayed the morning lauds, today’s short reading was on Galatians where St Paul says we no longer live for ourselves, but Christ who died for us. And with our bodies we live in faith. I am not sure why but perhaps it was the prompting of the Spirit that made me think about that mustard seed.
And my thoughts was just on that unremarkable puny seed. And it got me thinking – what is it like to have a faith of a mustard seed? And then a thought just dawned on me – perhaps it’s just a simple faith of trusting Him. Just trusting Him. That’s it. Just like that unremarkable mustard seed, which is so puny, so easily forgotten, can be trampled upon, needs to rely on the care of someone else, so too is my faith – on my own I can’t build my faith (I am coming to realise and accept that as I grow older), but with the Right Gardnener, this little mustard seed faith of mine can grow to become a mighty tree.
And maybe to me, that’s what this whole mustard seed is all about. Just having that little bit of faith, on not so much what God will do or how wonderful his plans will be, but just having faith and trusting Him – period. No strings attached, no conditional clauses. Just like a basic unremarkable and weak mustard seed.
And really, Jesus is telling me “That’s all that is needed”. Maybe I struggle with this because it’s so simple, and yet I can’t understand it (cue to Camel trying to walk through the eye of the needle!).
But little by little.
