Day 28

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. Luke 17:5-6

The disciples made the common mistake of measuring faith by volume, so they ask Jesus for an increase of faith. His reply was that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed it would be sufficient. Jesus elsewhere spoke about, 'a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground' (Mark 4:31). So, they ask for 'big' faith assuming it to be more effective. Jesus tells them their very questions indicates they have not understood the nature of faith.

The important thing about faith is the object in which it is placed. Putting a little bit of faith in thick ice will enable you to walk on the ice. But lot of faith in thin ice will cause you to sink! For the volume of faith is not nearly as important as the quality of the object in which that faith is placed.

When I was 18 years of age, I travelled to Zimbabwe in Southern Africa to take on a job for two years. I had never flown before and was both excited and nervous at the prospect. My seat was the middle of three on the left side of the plane. An elderly Scottish lady was on my left against the window, and we started talking. She had never flown before and was going to visit her daughter, son in law and grandchildren. She told me she was very nervous about flying, and I confessed this was my first flight too, so we feebly encouraged each other. Then a businessman sat on my right. He was familiar with flying and very confident.

We three each had a different quantity of faith. The lady on my left had mustard sized faith (enough to persuade her she had a fifty one percent chance of survival), I had potato sized faith (a little more relaxed) and the man on my right had watermelon sized! The interesting thing is, we all arrived in Zimbabwe at the same time! The man with the big faith did not arrive first and the lady with the little faith last, because the issue was not the amount of our faith we had, but the object in which we placed our faith - the plane.

So, it is with Christ. Place mustard sized faith in Him and He works. As we get to know him more, our trust grows with that knowledge. But it is the One in whom we place our faith who works, whether mustard seed or watermelon sized.