Dear B Squad,
Let’s talk about faith and mustard seeds.
We’ve all heard the parable before:
“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)
I’ve used these words of Jesus plenty of times to justify my lack of faith.
He did say, after all, that the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds.
I find myself clinging to this fact when I’m closing my eyes to pray for a lame man to be healed, logging in to my AIM account to check my fundraising status, or handing the last bag of rice to a family and turning away the crowd of hungry people who were hoping to leave with their own bag, too.
I remind Jesus, as if the Word who became flesh could have possibly forgotten, “You only require faith the size of a tiny mustard seed.” I bring him the smallest portion of faith I can conjure up and I ask him to bless it and grow it into the largest of all miracles,
and then I’m heartbroken and disappointed when he chooses not to.
Dear B Squad, if we’ve used his words to justify small faith then we’ve misused his words.
This note isn’t to rebuke your small faith; It’s to thank you for revealing mine.
Jesus never shamed the tree for it’s small beginning as a seed. Rather, he praised it for living long enough to grow.
I’ve heard of your faith, and I’ve seen the fruit it is bearing around the world. You’ve taught me that although faith may sometimes be small, it must always be LONG.
It’s not about bringing him the smallest portion of faith we can conjure up. It’s about bringing him ALL the faith we have!
It’s about PERSISTENCE.
It’s about having the faith to ask, risk disappointment, and ask again.
I’ve seen you risk your reputations to ask men and women if they want to have an encounter with the living God, and be rejected.
I’ve seen you risk your own embarrassment to stand in front of crowds and share God’s overwhelming love for them, and be ignored.
I’ve seen you risk failure to lay your hands on sick bodies and ask God for healing, and be denied.
I’ve seen you risk losing control to share an encouraging word or prophetic vision with a complete stranger, and be refused.
And all the while I’ve watched, wide-eyed, as the Spirit of God like a faithful gardener tends to the tree of life he is growing in your hearts.
Each time you pray in faith, no matter how big or how small, you are scattering the seed of the kingdom of heaven in faith that it will grow.
“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)
B Squad, I am equal parts encouraged and challenged by your persistent faith.
What once was seed scattered on the ground is now ripe for harvest.
What once was the smallest seed has now grown into the largest tree of all the plants in the garden.
