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Would you describe yourself as a person of faith? All of us need to be people of faith because without faith it’s impossible to please God. So, that’s why we’re asking the question: What is faith and how do we get it?
Jesus said, “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 17:20b).
Have you ever stood in front of a mountain and commanded it to move? Is that what Jesus wants us to do? That sounds like mission impossible, doesn’t it? Besides, why would we even want to move a literal mountain? That’s not my problem. The mountains in my life are people and circumstances and money and stuff like that, how about you?
Jesus used mountains because mountains represent obstacles –big obstacles that stand in our way. And then he contrasts that huge obstacle with the smallest thing he could think of—a mustard seed. He says even if your faith is no bigger than a tiny mustard seed, you can use that little bit of faith to move a huge obstacle.
What is Jesus teaching us through this illustration? I think it’s this: our faith doesn’t have to be as big as our problem. God is perfectly capable and willing to move our mountains for us, however large and impossible they seem, if we can show him faith the size of a mustard seed.
That comes as great comfort to me because I know how tiny my faith often is. In some situations it’s so tiny you can hardly see it. But when I come to God with my tiny, tiny bit of faith and say, “Lord, you see this mountain here. It is huge. I cannot move it and it is a major obstacle in my life. You’ve promised me to move my mountains if I have any faith at all to believe you. Well, here’s my faith. It’s about the size of a pinhead; not much at all. I can’t boast of my great faith, but I bring you what I have and ask you to please move my mountain.”
So, when you come with your puny little dab of faith and ask God to move your mountain, you’re exercising faith in God, not faith in your faith! It is not your faith that moves the mountain; God moves the mountain. But he can’t get to work on your behalf until you come with your thimble-full of faith and ask him to move it.
Remember this today: your faith doesn’t have to be as big as your problem. Come with the little faith you have and ask God to move your mountain. Then, when he does, your faith will grow. That’s the way it works.