Mustard Seed Faith

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1a

Mustard seeds are tiny, y’all.

**Hang with me- there’s a lot of Word in this post. But we NEED to read the Word. God will honor your effort!

 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”           Matthew 17: 14-20

 Wow. That’s a loaded passage. How do I apply that to my life? Honestly, it’s a bit discouraging because it implies the disciples had faith “smaller” than a mustard seed. Otherwise, they would’ve been able to set that, boy free, right?

If those guys, who walked, talked and witnessed Jesus’ ministry for three solid years still didn’t have enough faith–mustard seed-sized– then how-oh-how is my faith ever going to grow up?

I do know it must be possible. I do know Jesus sounded a wee bit exasperated by their teeny tiny faith…kind of like I do when my kids “forget” something I have taught them a bagillion times…or let’s get real here, he sounds like my husband when I say, “I forgot” when he has told me something a bagillion times…uh hem.

This faith thing sounds so spiritual, achievable and certainly desirable.

I mean, who among us doesn’t want to please Jesus? Who wouldn’t want to move a mountain of debt or suffering, or struggle from here to there?

I suppose the best thing to do is what the boy’s father did…

Back to the Word of God…

A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”         Mark 9:17-29

When I went looking for this verse, I didn’t realize it was in Mark’s version of the same encounter. However, Mark reveals more details, including the father’s response.

This distraught dad responded, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

As soon as he declared his faith, he was smacked upside-the-head by doubt. I love his humble response.

I can so relate to this brother. Sometimes my faith is so close—bordering on mustard seed—and then other times, my heart’s cry is, “help me overcome my unbelief!”

It stinks that it’s like this.

I want watermelon seed faith

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or avocado pit faith

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or how about coconut faith!

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But I digress…

Let’s break this thing down.

Jesus said mustard seed faith is possible. We will operate on a much higher level when we possess this kind of faith in His awesome power.

He rebutted the father when he asked: “If you can?”

He answered, “I believe.” But only a semicolon later,  he pleaded, “help me overcome my unbelief.”

He didn’t lie. He didn’t pretend to be super-spiritual. Instead, he humbled himself before God. Smart man.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”     Michah 6:8

God granted him the desire of his heart right then and there, weak faith and all. His son was healed and set free. I bet his faith grew beyond mustard seed size!

Perhaps then, “Yes, I believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  is a prayer we should all embrace.

Like my ancient brother, I too believe.

But if I’m honest– waves of insecurity, sometimes confusion, distraction, fear, maybe a dash of self-pity mixed with anger and despair –threaten to drown out my faith.  That’s when I need Jesus to “help me overcome my unbelief!”

There was one more detail Mark included in his account.

Jesus mentioned in verse 29, “This kind can only come out through prayer.” He was referring to “you deaf and mute spirit” which isn’t necessarily what we deal with daily.

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Or do we?

Are we deaf to the truth? Are we opening our mouths to pray or speaking words of encouragement? Are we listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit?

Are we muting the voice of God by keeping our ears plugged streaming nonstop audiobooks or music? Are we listening to the news and watching YouTube more than we study God’s Word and listen for His still small voice?

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Are we speaking up when we feel prompted or do we mute ourselves because we don’t want to stir the pot?

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I’m speaking to myself here. Hopefully, someone else can relate.

No shame, no condemnation.

Just time to wake up.

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Speak up.

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Listen up.

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Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Thank You, Lord, for the faith we have. Help us overcome our unbelief. Increase our faith. Help us to be better listeners and speak up at Your prompting. Help us remember to pray and to read Your word. Help us to focus on You and not be distracted by the things in the world. Use us for Your glory in these strange days.  In Jesus Name we pray. Amen