“For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as 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.”

– Matthew 17:20

Every time I hear this verse I got a humorous image of a small, round, yellow mustard seed sitting in a dark cinema, happily watching a movie, when a giant obnoxious mountain enters the darkened room and takes the seat in front of the seed blocking his view.

The little mustard seed gets out of his seat and rolls down to the mountain, who dwarves him, and boldly tells him to move. The mountain who is so afraid of this little mustard seed, doesn’t put up a fight, just grabs his popcorn and drink and politely moves out of the way. And the mustard seed casually returns to his seat and continues to watch the movie completely unobstructed.

I know it’s not 100% what Jesus was getting at when he delivered that to his disciples, but it isn’t too far off.

While I believe that Jesus was talking literally (yes I believe with faith, and acting upon theWILL of God a mountain can be moved) I also believe that he was talking symbolically about the mountains in our lives.

Now a mustard seed is not a very big seed, in fact its one of the smallest seeds known to man. So obviously Jesus had to have been confused about sizes when he said that, right? He had to have meant it the other way around, If you have faith as a mountain you can speak to a mustard seed and tell it to move… or just squash it. Right?

Wrong! Jesus was always very purposeful in the things that he said, I don’t think he just spoke for the sake of hearing his own voice. Meaning that when he says you only need the faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, all we need is the smallest bit of faith, to tell one of the largest, most immovable things known to mankind to uproot itself and get out of the way.

Well, if it’s that easy why aren’t we seeing more mountains being moved?

Lets go to a verse earlier than the one quoted at the top.

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief;’”

While Jesus says ‘unbelief’ I prefer to call it doubt. Doubt is a horrible thing. A seed of doubt, no matter the size, will strangle the small little mustard seed, consume it of its life, and render it ineffective. Doubt will destroy your faith, and that’s a guarentee!

Doubt also comes in many forms; words from others, our own thoughts, past experiences, or education, an analytical mind, our self image etc, etc. It’s so violent and good at what it does, that when we don’t see the mountain move in our life (the big issues whether it be a need for healing, finance, a dead situation etc.) we start to reason that we have either done something to God and that he’s punishing us, or that God doens’t love you, or that God doesn’t exist. Ever heard people say “Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” (Bad things happen to bad people as well. In fact bad things happen to all people. That’s because we live in a fallen world. But that’s an article for another time!) That statement is a seed of doubt that has grown into a large thornbush, that strangles out the light of God.

In my experience you only hear people who refuse to believe in God use this statement. But it has become so strong in their life, it affects the way they think and see, and usually means that at one time they were desperately hoping for something, that didn’t happen. Thus the seed of doubt sprouted, and grew.

The ancient Israelites were in this situation once. A man the size of a mountain taunted them and threatened them, walking backwards and forwards along the army lines begging for someone to come and fight him. The Israelites, all cowardly were planning on how to get out of this situation with their own skins attached. Yet a small mustard seed sized boy, with his mustard seed sized faith stepped up and said. YOU WILL MOVE. He took him down with a single stone between the eyes.

The enemies forces, who once seemed so strong and proud hiding behind & putting their faith in the very thing that caused the Israelites doubt, broke and were utterly destroyed by an Israeli army so empowered with faith from a single action. A stone between the eyes.

The faith of David wasn’t a massive faith, it was the size of a mustard seed, but it wasn’t inhabited by a seed of doubt. You too can have a seed of faith! You just need to get in there and prune your thought life. Cut down the thorn bush of doubt, and boldly tell the mountain that is hindering you to get lost!

After all: If you believe you won’t, you won’t!

^“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

–Matthew 13:31-32

You may only be a mustard seed today, but you will grow into a mighty tree. A tree that will provide food and shelter for those that need it!

In closing;

“Behold, a sower went out to sow.And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

– Matthew 13:3-8

This verse explains the Human mind incredibly. The Birds talking the seeds are us talking ourselves out of it. The seeds landing on stony ground who grew and got burnt are us when we have a hardened heart, and the seeds by the thorns is us already consumed by doubt.

There’s only one place a mustard seed faith can grow, and that’s in a mind filled with God, that’s the good ground!

Now get out there, and move some mountains!

Blessings – The Kid