I believe God wants us to understand what it really means to have faith the size of a mustard seed. As Christians, there are times that we question whether we have or understand mustard seed faith. We know that we must trust God, believe His Word, and not doubt. The issue is that sometimes, when we have done all we know to do, the situation may not work out as we expected, and that may lead us to question faith.
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If we are not careful, the enemy will sneak in and cause us to doubt when we should hold onto our faith. For example, we might ask God to answer prayer; in doing so, we may even ask others to pray. Although we may genuinely feel that we have prayed in faith and not doubted, the prayer may seem unanswered in the way that we anticipated. When this happens, sometimes, we begin to question the reason why. Thus, Christians may ask questions such as:
- Why didn’t this work?
- Did God not hear my prayer?
- Did I not pray correctly?
- Is God mad at me?
- Did I do something wrong?
- Is my faith not strong enough?
Faith is a highly complex word and idea. I believe that God wants us all to understand faith because it is impossible to please Him without it (Hebrews 11:6). What’s more, God tells us to have faith, walk in faith, build our faith, and proclaim our faith. He does not want us to question or doubt our faith and promises to give wisdom when we ask.
Understanding Our Measure Of Mustard Seed Faith
Therefore, we can possess, live out, grow, and ultimately share faith with others. Because spiritual ideas are complicated for the natural man to comprehend, Jesus spoke in parables to the people, and he often used seeds, more specifically, the mustard seed.
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
Matthew 13:31-32 ESV
According to Romans 12:3, God gives each of us a measure of faith. As Christians, we know that God loves us and gives good gifts to His children. He blesses those who love Him with more than enough and distributes gifts as He sees fit. He does not want us to become boastful, and He does not want us to waste anything that He gives.
The measure of faith that God gives us could be the size of a mustard seed, but there is might in the tiny amount, and God expects it to grow. The Bible explains that the mustard seed can grow into a tree, and that tree eventually can grow to provide shelter for and affect others. Therefore, every gift from God should be valued, nurtured, and shared to benefit others.
A small amount of faith can move mountains because the strength comes from God. He multiplies the small amount, and it becomes unlimited. God can take the slightest size of faith, which is our limited ability to take Him at His Word and not doubt and mix it with His unlimited ability. This way, God can do great and beautiful things even through our minor acts. Like the widow who gave two small coins, which was all she had, God determined that she gave more than everyone else, and He honored her. In this way, small can be much in the Kingdom of God.
Walk Through Life With Mustard Seed Faith
Faith is defined in Hebrews 11, ‘”now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” As Christians, we understand that faith requires believing and trusting God even when what we see suggests the opposite. Thus, faith is believing for good even when it looks impossible to our human senses.
As we live our lives, we must walk by faith rather than sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Even when it looks like our prayers are left unanswered, we must understand that God is still in control, and our prayers will be answered in God’s timing and according to His will. At that moment, we have to continue to believe and not doubt. There will be times of faith-testing to prove that we will remain steadfast (James 1:3).
Whenever I forget that sometimes God has to say no, I think of Jesus in the garden before his crucifixion. Like Jesus, we can ask God anything, but we must honor God with our submission to His will. For example, Jesus asked God to take the cup away; God could not say yes to this request as it was the only way to save us. Just like Jesus, we must be willing to tell God not my will but Your will. God sees and knows more than we do, so we must always trust His plans as we walk through life with mustard-seed faith.
Build Our Mustard Seed Faith
The Bible says that faith comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When we hear the gospel message and decide to accept Jesus as our Savior, we join the family of God by faith, and at that point, we are ready to understand the things of God. After salvation, we are ready but still can not fully comprehend every spiritual concept all at once. Just like babies, we all need to start with milk and then progress to meat. Spiritual milk is like the foundational truths of Christianity and leads us to salvation, and then we grow from there.
The Bible states that the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he does not understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, as we walk with God, continue to hear his Word and apply it, our faith will grow, and we will progress in our understanding of more complex biblical truths.
Faith is like a seed sown on good ground. It is supposed to grow and produce fruit. After speaking in parables about sowing seeds, Jesus explained to the disciples that the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears His Word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and another thirty (Matthew 13:23). So our faith is supposed to grow.
Proclaim Mustard Seed Faith To Others
Ultimately, we must proclaim faith to others. We all need the Word of God to live this life and to live eternally. The Bible says that man can not live on bread alone but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). God wants us to be able to give an answer to others about our faith. He wants us to share the Good News and for our lives to be an example of His love and goodness.
Salvation comes when we call on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13). God does not want anyone to perish; instead, He wants everyone to accept the gift of salvation (John 3:16). The Bible makes it plain that Jesus brought salvation, and we can not enter Heaven without being born again (John 3:3).
If the natural man cannot understand the things of God and have faith without hearing the Word of God, then someone must share the Word of God with them. As disciples of Jesus, we must willingly proclaim our faith.
Every Christian should willingly share their faith with others. The enemy will convince us that we should remain quiet, but we must live as Jesus did and taught His disciples to do. We must be willing to tell others of God’s goodness so their faith can also grow.
A Prayer to Activate Our Mustard Seed Faith
God loves us so much that He has provided everything we need to live this life, but the enemy wants to rob us of our assurance. So, let’s pray this prayer to activate our mustard seed faith and declare our proper place in the Kingdom of God.
This article came to me in God’sperfect timing. My strength has waned and my soul is heavy. However, I have, and embrace, my mustard seed of faith.
Thank you for sharing. God’s continued blessing be with you and yours
Amen, you have to hold on to God’s hand and remember that He will supply all of our needs. I am so glad that you were blessed by this post. Praying for you.
Amen, Krystal! This really blessed me today, as “mustard seed faith” was something I’ve been wondering about! May God continúe to bless you abundantly! -Joy 😊🙏🏼✝️
Thanks for taking the time to send me a comment. It blessed me. Some days the enemy tells me that no one reads my posts, but it is messages like yours that encourage me. Be blessed. Thanks again for being a blessing.