Mustard Seeds

This seems at first like a trivial thing in light of the sad and heinous tragedies of the past several days, but I think there’s a message in it so here goes. 

I got these earrings a while back and they’re one of my favorite pairs. A depiction of mountains with a little mustard seed underneath. Well I wore them Sunday and when I got home and changed my clothes I realized I only had one still in my ear!

I checked my shirt, hoping it had gotten caught there but no luck. Didn't see it on the floor in the house anywhere either. I went back outside and looked along the sidewalk and driveway where I’d gotten out of the truck. I checked the truck and didn’t find it there. Bummer. 

I went to church last night for singing practice and checked around where I was sitting Sunday. Nope. I asked if there was a lost and found in the church, but that also wasn’t where the earring was. I walked out the door to leave and thought I would retrace my steps where I had walked out to the truck Sunday. I looked down at the sidewalk under the entrance canopy, and THERE IT WAS! I was surprised and happy!

Now, this was just a little piece of metal and glass with a seed in it. The world does not revolve around it and losing it wasn’t a crisis. But the message these earrings carry is way more important than the jewelry. 

Matthew 17 records the occasion of a man seeking out Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son. The demon was trying to kill him by throwing him into the fire or into water. The devil was, in short, attempting to cut off this boy’s destiny. The disciples tried to cast the demon out but couldn’t. Jesus got the job done with a word.

Verses 19 and 20: “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to 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 to you.”

Another time, Jesus told His followers they would do greater works than He. What the what?? I don’t even know what that looks like! But I’m pretty confident it requires faith. At least faith as big as a mustard seed. 

I think the earring lesson is something like this:

DO NOT LOSE FAITH! There are people all around us who are in bondage, the enemy seeking to cut off the life they/we were created to live here (including you, me, and even murderous perpetrators of violence).  Some days it looks like hope is lost and evil has won. But appearances are not always reality. Faith usually requires us to see beyond circumstances. 

I believe what Jesus did over 2000 years ago--gave His life as a ransom, defeated sin and death, and took back the keys of authority on earth that Adam and Eve had relinquished to satan in the garden of Eden--was not ONLY about giving us the hope of going to heaven. If the One who has been given ALL authority in heaven and on earth lives inside of those who receive Him, why should we not be walking this earth exercising His authority over sin and death? Why should we not expect an answer to prayer that the Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven? Why should not the Light residing within us triumph over the seemingly immovable mountains of darkness around us?

Moving mountains may look like an impossible task, but a seed of faith is what is needed to make the impossible possible. The thing about seeds is that in the right conditions, they grow. They turn into no small thing. If they’re planted. They need planted and watered, but it’s God who brings the growth. 

If you, like me, sometimes feel like you've lost your mustard seed of faith, don't give up in resignation or despair. LOOK FOR IT! If you seek, you will find, Jesus said. Then, when you find it, get it planted. 

Let’s ask Him to grow our faith, and join Jesus in His mission of reversing the works of the devil in the earth. Together with Him, we've got mountains to move!