Matthew 17:20 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.”
Faith is like a seed. Jesus used the analogy of a mustard seed to quantify the size of faith that we require to move mountains. The size of a mustard seed is about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter but Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith”, which means that the faith of the disciples was even smaller than 1 millimeter! A mustard seed normally germinates within 10 days under the right conditions. This incident recorded in Matthew 17 would have been during the third year of the ministry of Jesus and Jesus was indicating that after 3 years of doing life with Him, their faith had not even grown bigger than 1 millimeter. God has allotted to each a measure of faith (Romans 12:3b). The measure of faith given to us should be nurtured and cultivated not ignored and shrunk.
A desperate father brought his son who was tormented by demons and who suffered from seizures to the disciples. The disciples could not drive out the demon. Then the father took the boy to Jesus who had just come down from the mountain after His time of prayer. Jesus rebuked the demon and the boy was healed. The disciples who were embarrassed took Jesus aside and asked Him the reason for their failure in the mission. To which Jesus retorted, “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” (vs 17). He called them ‘unbelieving’ as there was no life in the seed of faith in their heart and ‘perverse’ because they were succumbing to impress the crowd around them. This is true as they did not ask Jesus the question before the crowd but took Him privately and then discussed their failure.
Faith is a seed that must be cultivated:
1. Impress: The seed of faith shrinks when we try to impress people with our devotion to God. The right environment for faith to grow is humility and holiness. There is growth where the Holy Spirit inhabits. When He dwells in us and we dine with Him, communicate and walk with Him, our faith will automatically grow.
2. Impulse: Impulsivity and emotional yoyo shrivels faith. Steady and steadfast truth is the right environment to grow faith. An impulsive person is emotionally driven and earthly minded. Jesus rebuked Peter, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns (Matthew 16:23).” Impulsivity kills faith.
3. Impede: Impeding or begging God for blessings, healing and provision strangles faith. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). Let our prayers not be weak or wimpy but bold and courageous. Courage nurtures faith.
Faith is a seed. Nurture it.
Matthew 11:23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
Prayer: Jesus my Lord, coach me and teach me to foster and fortify the faith in my heart. May the mustard seed of faith grow like a tree to uproot a mountain. Amen
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