"I think faith is the small mustard seed of opportunities every day. For example, 'Am I going to love this person?'...It really is a daily thing where you seize those little mustard seed opportunities and then see what God does." ~ Mark Batterson
Mark Batterson offers a different slant on the mustard seed as related to faith. His words encourage us to live our values and have faith. What grows in other people and situations as a result of our small actions is beyond our power or concern.
"See what God does," he says. I think what he is conveying is, "Let go. Have faith. Let God." Sometimes we do see. Sometimes we don't. And we don't really need to see or know.
In this touchstone, I'd also like to share one of my "faith the size of a mustard seed" experiences.
In 2000 I was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma and told, "There's good news and bad news. What you have is a slow-growing form, but there is no cure for it."
At first I took that as fact. But when I learned that at least one person has achieved a cure from every type of cancer, I had faith the size of a mustard seed that I, too, could achieve a cure. At least it was possible. Little by little, that little seed of faith grew, as I nurtured it each day. It soon became like a giant tree of belief, assurance, peace, and gratitude.
If something is troubling you, if you have doubts, reach for faith and hold it, however small it seems. Consider holding an actual mustard seed too. As you do, affirm: I do have at least this much faith.
Just as the mustard plant grows large from a tiny seed, faith can grow, love can grow, hope can grow, courage can grow, everything can grow.
Believing,
Charlene
THE TWELFTH GIFT IS FAITH: May you believe. - from The Twelve Gifts of Birth
