The Mustard Seed

“If you have faith as big as a mustard seed,

you can say to this hill,

‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go.

You can do anything!”

Mathew 17: 20

In the Parable of the Mustard seed our Lord Jesus Christ liken the Kingdom of Heaven to how a man grows a mustard seed in his field and even though this seed is the smallest of all seeds,  when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches! 

Are you ready to be the Mustard Seed Jesus Christ is talking about today?

Is your faith as big as the Mustard Seed to be transformed into a tree of justice, peace and love for humanity?

Are you ready to be that tree of compassion, understanding and hope, humility, patience and kindness, obedience, generosity and joy to your neighbors today?

The Kingdom of God as we all know is manifested in Justice, Peace and Love and when we exhibit these features in our lives, we are in part fulfilling the part of the Lord’s Prayer which said “Thy Kingdom Come.”

In our contemporary society, we are bombarded on a daily basis conflicting messages about how our faith in God must be big enough in order for the miracles, our petitions and prayers, our dreams and aspirations can become a reality.

Unfortunately many have taken undue advantage of our physical distress and impatience with God to manipulate us into succumbing to their egocentrism, self-pride and in the worst case scenario “con” by usurping any hope, faith and love we have within our reserve to approach God wholeheartedly again!

SITUATIONS (MOUNTAINS)

The situations or circumstances we face in life are the mountains or hills that are impediments to us expressing our faith completely trusting in the Lord and also the means by which our God want to manifest his steadfastness, faithfulness and infinite love for humanity. In order words, the mountains of your life, the hills of your life, the challenges of your life are by no means intended to kill you, rather, God design them all to bring us closer to him.

How many times have we made that gigantic offertory to God in expectations of answered prayer?

How many times have we been faced with a mountain in our lives and we want somebody else to mediate for us before God?

How many times have we prayed, and in our despair feel dejected, frustrated and rejected by the same God we look up to for salvation?

How many times have our dreams been shattered and we are force to start all over again?

Your marriage is about to hit the rock bottom!

Your career is not making any progress!

You have no job or underemployed!

You cannot afford to feed your family!

You have been betrayed by a trusted friend, making you to doubt the authenticity of friendship

You cannot afford to pay the bills!

You have no healthcare insurance!

You have no unemployment insurance!

You are living in fear of homelessness and so on and so forth!

Today, Jesus Christ is asking you and me to take a leap of faith, and in the most compassionate, considerate and merciful fashion, this request is not contingent upon how “Big a Faith” you have!

On the contrary, our Savior, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the living God, is telling us all that is need is a faith the size of the “Mustard Seed”

EXPECTATIONS

You might have been waiting for those prayers to be answered today

You might have been waiting for that phone call to hear you have been hired or promoted

You might have been waiting for the news that finally your childless marriage is about to end

You might have been waiting for the news that the cancer and the chronic pain are gone for good

You might have been waiting to hear that you don’t need to worry about the bills anymore

You might have been waiting to hear that finally you have made the breakthrough in your career

You might have been waiting to hear from a lost son or daughter, mother or father

You might have been waiting for him or her to call and mend the relationship again

In fact, you might have been waiting for that turning point in your life so that once more you can bask in the vicinity of justice, peace and love, success, joy and happiness.

It may seem an endless wait and expectations on your own part and to say the least a long shot in terms of its realization.

In the midst of these confusions, is it possible to really trust and obey the words of Jesus Christ, especially his admonition that “You can do anything?” How can I as a child of God bring myself into accepting situations and continue to patiently wait in joyful expectations that God will come through for me?

RESTORATION

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “If you have faith……you can say to this hill go from here to there! And it will go.”

We might have been praying and banking on our faith in God and yet our physical situation might not have changed as we expected, so what do we do, give in to doubt or by faith wait upon the Lord?

The restoration that Jesus Christ promised us is that as long as we look up to him at all times, by focusing on his words of eternal life rather than on the challenges we face; the mountains of our lives which causes disappointments, failures, sickness, and even death, he will give us the capacity to carry our cross and wait upon his timing.

Nothing is impossible for our God to do! And whenever we align our desires with those of our Lord Jesus Christ, without doubt we are in the process of moving that mountain in our lives and therefore becoming the emblem of the “Mustard Seed” that he talks about.

If you cannot pay your bills, but by faith believe that God will make a way, and you keep on thriving and working hard, you are exercising the Mustard Seed in you!

If you are married and have been endlessly waiting for the fruit of the womb, but by faith have not given up, the Mustard Seed is in you!

If after you have done all you can and still your career is not moving forward, but by faith you are hoping that Jesus Christ will restore your fortune, I tell you, you are exercising the Mustard Seed in you!

If you have invested your time and energy trying to bring your family up in the good way, and yet face the challenges of unfaithfulness, lack of appreciation and mistrust, and nevertheless hope that Jesus Christ will make it right and you continue to work toward it, the Mustard Seed is in you!

If you cannot afford to help your loved ones as you had wanted, but hope that one day Jesus Christ will make that possible, the Mustard Seed is in you!

If for the love of God you practice justice, peace and love towards your neighbors, irrespective of their religion, status and lifestyle, but see Jesus Christ in them, the Mustard Seed is in you.

If all your hope and ultimate aspiration is to allow the will of God to be done in your life, accepting your situations with thanksgiving and hoping for the best possible future from Jesus Christ, the Mustard Seed is in you.

All that Jesus Christ is asking from us today is not any different from what he has expected from the disciples.

Martha and Mary believed that Jesus Christ can bring the dead to life, and behold it came to pass that Lazarus was raised from the dead after four days in the tomb!

The woman with the hemorrhagic disease after spending all her fortune running from one physician to another exercised her Mustard Seed faith by touching the clothe of Jesus Christ and she was made whole again!

The Roman Centurion believed and have faith in Jesus Christ and asked the Lord to heal his servant and behold it came to pass that the servant was made well again! That is a Mustard Seed moment!

So what are you doing to do with your situation today? Will your expectations be focused on restoration from you exercising your Mustard Seed moment or are you going to allow the Devil to steal your joy and deny you of yet another opportunity to trust and obey?

PRAYER

O Lord, my God! Today I come before your throne of grace to first and foremost thank you for your infinite love, compassion and mercy, for faith, hope and trust, and above all for your gift of life!

I am weak and fearful because I fail to exercise my Mustard Seed moment in life and therefore, here am I again.

Please come and comfort me in distress and be my hope in despair, joy in sorrow, and love when hate abound.

I offer you all the challenges of my life today and pray that may your holy will prevail in my life.

You alone know what I truly need and by faith, I believe like Mary and Martha and all the disciples that you will make everything well again and at your own time.

Father in heaven, for the sake of your holy name, do not allow those who do not trust in you to laugh at me, and rather use my situations as the instrument to bring about the conversion of hearts and the restoration of hope for the hopeless.

Jesus Christ, fill me with your divine mercy and provide for me out of your providential care as I trust, hope and put my faith in you.

Holy Spirit, strengthen me with your presence, so that in it all, with it all and through it all, I may see only my Lord Jesus Christ in my situations and therefore continue to give thanks and praises to the almighty God who the Potter of my life and I the clay to be mold and remold into his ultimate design.

Thank you O Lord my God as I humbly ask for your holy will to be done in my life today!

Amen!

Ref: Mathew 17, Luke 13

Podeh2016