When a mustard seed is all you need, because God understands small

The Bible is full of possibilities. It makes a mockery of being boxed in and colouring within lines of expectations. It's within the best selling book of all time that we learn of infinite possibilities.

It's where we learn that dry bones can live, if you speak to it and let God breathe life into it.

It's where a boy can defeat a giant with a sling, a stone and God's unseen hand.

It's where Daniel can sit with the king of the Jungle and not be moved.

If you don't believe me, ask Moses about the Red Sea.

There is another way to phrase the possibilities of the Bible. In one word.    

Impossible.

I've been to a lot of churches. I attended one, where hugs were new every Sunday morning. Their patron saint was Thomas the Apostle. Yes. Doubting Thomas.

I like Thomas. He was real. Honest. He said 'Except I shall see in his hands the prints of the nails,and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side,I will not believe.'(John 20:25)He would not believe,even though his fellow disciples told him they had seen him. And who could blame him?  Do we always believe others when they say they have had an encounter with Jesus?

Thomas the disciple wasn't an extra ordinary human, he was just a mere man, Jesus- another man that walked alongside him.

But...

How could Thomas after seeing Jesus' miracles, had the benefit of his teaching, having eaten with him, drank with him, learning at his feet not believe that Jesus could overcome death and be raised from the dead? Didn't he remember what happened with Lazarus?

He didn't believe because he was a mere mortal, as mortals we often suffer from forgetfulness and preface hard things not as possibilities but as impossible.

The possibilities are infinite in God.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith, it is Impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.'

The Bible is about possibilities.

That word faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1) is poignant.

We live in a tangible world. We see all we want, we hold, touch, feel and smell everything we hold dear.And many things we don't. Evidence is tangible, it can be proven, over and over. It has a formula.

I was going through a difficult time, and a friend said, just have faith. Where do I buy that? How do I hold it and put it in a box? That is ...well...Impossible. In my search to find faith I landed on the verse, 'faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains'(Mathew 17:20). Hmmmm...I thought, OK, let's see how much faith I can muster. Then I did one thing. I Googled a mustard seed and the picture astounded me. It shamed my unbelief. It quieted impossible.It was small. So small.

The picture shifted things, I only had energy for small. Small could move a mountain. Small could slay giant.

Possibility slayed impossibility.

Now to pleasing God - if all things are possible in  Him and through Him, if He mentions impossible, you know it's serious. You know you've been sent straight to the principal's office. You're in big trouble!

A friend and I were talking recently and my doubts were exposed, yet again, and she reminded me - without faith, it's impossible to please God. Doubt is the absence of faith. Then you find yourself on the outside of God's will. You find yourself living with impossible when He already told you all is possible.

I'm a doubter, I think the reason I don't take anything at face value is because - I'm a thinker. I have an over active imagination and brain. I like to oppose just for the sake of opposing- because researching the opposing point is just more fun- it's more challenging. It goes against the grain.  After-all, what good is a brain if you don't exercise it? if you don't think things through;if you don't get your own understanding?

I believe I doubt because when I believe in things, in people, more often than not, they disappoint. And doubt started to accuse belief. It called belief a liar. A heart-breaker. A cheat. An impossible dream.

Doubt, like all things, has an origin, it begins with a planted seed. A seed that dies in us, a seed that we put out in sunlight. A seed we water. A seed that grows. A seed that bears fruit. The fruit of doubt, leave a stain on the teeth, and a bitter after taste on the tongue. It aches the belly. It blocks the heart. It rots the soul.

The fruits of doubt - fear- unbelief- insecurity-indifference- un-forgiveness - phobias. Impossibilities become endless.

The best way to kill a plant, is when it's a seed. The best way to kill a seed? Remove it from it's source of nourishment. This is one of the enemy's cleverest tricks.

Jesus knew we know and believe tangible, he knew we would wrestle with the body and the spirit man. I believe the mustard seed reference is deliberate. Its small, sometimes for most of us, it's the best that we can do- it's an apt small beginning  not to despise.


I understand small, sometimes all we see is small, all we feel is small, all we get is small. A small paycheck. A small raise. A small idea.A small start. Small makes many things possible. Even if you dream big- your biggest dream is small to God. You, he said cannot imagine all the things that he has planned for you. (1 Corinthians 2:9)Imagine that!

So much faith,possibilities, hope, purpose, can come from small.

 

There are times when having faith feels like that lie you tell yourself when you have a cheat day for 5 days straight. Others simplify it to being positive.Having good thoughts. Attracting positive energy from the 'universe'. Faith is more than positive thinking and I dare say bigger than the universe.

 I won't lie-faith is hard for me.Faith sometimes feels like hard concrete on soft shoulders. It's just not practical. 

But

That's where renewing of a mind comes in. When seeing the impossible becomes possible, when you lose your earthly vision and walk without the lines of expectations. You do that faith walk. You believe in possible dreams.

It is possible to please him, with faith, with belief, with holding on to the wind as it whistles through the trees.

I'll go with...blessed is he that will believe without seeing the nail pierced hand.(John 20:29) I'm there for that.

What is your 'possible' story? Share it here so we can grow in faith together.



Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11
 

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