“And Jesus said unto them...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20
We always use this scripture to suggest that we don’t need much faith. Even a minuscule amount of faith will move great spiritual mountains. While this may be true, I believe Jesus was trying to communicate much more to us.
The first reason He chose the mustard seed in this parable is because of its great potential! A grain of mustard seed is a small thing, capable of vast development. It has the potential to grow to a great height.
“And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh GREATER than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” Mark 4:30-32 KJV
A seed is not fulfilling it’s purpose when it remains a seed. It’s silly to think that someone would put a seed in their pocket and carry it around with them, expecting it to yield something. A seed is meant to be planted and nurtured, and to grow into a rooted plant.
In the case of the mustard seed, you start out with something that seems so small and seemingly limited. But from very small seedlings, the mustard plants grow rapidly and enter a phase of dense flowering. Britannica.com tells us that mustard plants are easy to grow; they flourish on many different types of soil, suffer from unusually few insect pests or plant diseases, and tolerate extremes of weather without serious harm.
It IS possible for you to come out on the other side of the storm with your faith intact! When the wind is swirling around you, when your faith is taking a beating, know that your faith was MADE for this! It was designed to withstand the storms of life. In fact, in many cases, wind will cause plants to grow deeper roots and become stronger. Michigan State did some research that showed each time a plant is pushed by the wind, it releases a hormone called an auxin that stimulates the growth of supporting cells.
If you feel like you’re being pushed around, just stay rooted and know that you are being positioned into a place where you will be able to thrive!
Now, let’s talk about when the mustard plants are harvested:
The second reason for using the mustard seed as a comparison to our faith is because of what can happen when our faith is put under pressure.
Listen to this..
Britannica.com also states, “When dry or when ground into a flour, the seeds are odourless, but when the seed is chewed or when the flour is mixed with water, a chemical reaction between two of the constituents within mustard, an enzyme and a glucoside, produces an oil that is not present as such in the plant.“ When the seed is ground up into a flour, when enough pressure is applied that it becomes a fine powder, you can then mix it with WATER to produce an OIL that was not even present in the plant before!
Don’t be fearful or resistant when your faith is under pressure! Just add water! Just add the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost.. and it will yield an oil that was not present in your life before. An anointing will flow out of you after that period of pressure, after being ground up, after your faith has been tested, that was not present in your life before! This is an oil that would never have been produced had your mustard seed not been ground up.
We always use this scripture to suggest that we don’t need much faith. Even a minuscule amount of faith will move great spiritual mountains. While this may be true, I believe Jesus was trying to communicate much more to us.
The first reason He chose the mustard seed in this parable is because of its great potential! A grain of mustard seed is a small thing, capable of vast development. It has the potential to grow to a great height.
“And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh GREATER than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” Mark 4:30-32 KJV
A seed is not fulfilling it’s purpose when it remains a seed. It’s silly to think that someone would put a seed in their pocket and carry it around with them, expecting it to yield something. A seed is meant to be planted and nurtured, and to grow into a rooted plant.
In the case of the mustard seed, you start out with something that seems so small and seemingly limited. But from very small seedlings, the mustard plants grow rapidly and enter a phase of dense flowering. Britannica.com tells us that mustard plants are easy to grow; they flourish on many different types of soil, suffer from unusually few insect pests or plant diseases, and tolerate extremes of weather without serious harm.
It IS possible for you to come out on the other side of the storm with your faith intact! When the wind is swirling around you, when your faith is taking a beating, know that your faith was MADE for this! It was designed to withstand the storms of life. In fact, in many cases, wind will cause plants to grow deeper roots and become stronger. Michigan State did some research that showed each time a plant is pushed by the wind, it releases a hormone called an auxin that stimulates the growth of supporting cells.
If you feel like you’re being pushed around, just stay rooted and know that you are being positioned into a place where you will be able to thrive!
Now, let’s talk about when the mustard plants are harvested:
The second reason for using the mustard seed as a comparison to our faith is because of what can happen when our faith is put under pressure.
Listen to this..
Britannica.com also states, “When dry or when ground into a flour, the seeds are odourless, but when the seed is chewed or when the flour is mixed with water, a chemical reaction between two of the constituents within mustard, an enzyme and a glucoside, produces an oil that is not present as such in the plant.“ When the seed is ground up into a flour, when enough pressure is applied that it becomes a fine powder, you can then mix it with WATER to produce an OIL that was not even present in the plant before!
Don’t be fearful or resistant when your faith is under pressure! Just add water! Just add the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost.. and it will yield an oil that was not present in your life before. An anointing will flow out of you after that period of pressure, after being ground up, after your faith has been tested, that was not present in your life before! This is an oil that would never have been produced had your mustard seed not been ground up.
Savannah Liliedahl is a McNeese State University graduate and is experienced in the fields of education and business management. She currently serves as the secretary at Livingway Pentecostal Church and feels highly honored to be “a gatekeeper in the house of God” (Psalms 84:10). Savannah has assisted in numerous church ministries and has enjoyed expressing herself creatively through writing, particularly thoughts concerning spiritual matters, since childhood. Savannah and her husband, Adam Liliedahl, are approaching their 5th wedding anniversary.
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