Just a Little Faith

“So the Lord said,  If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you.”  Luke 17:6 (NKJV)

What we have here  is  Jesus’  response  to His disciples who’d  said to Him, “Increase our faith” (verse 5).  That is a great request, isn’t it?  As usual, Jesus gave an unexpected answer.  He chose to emphasize a little thing, the tiny mustard-seed faith that can be so dynamic that it  produces  something big.  The disciples  may have been feeling inadequate when they asked Jesus to increase their faith.  Often we, too, feel that we aren’t up to the task of living  for Christ and doing what we should. In His response, Jesus is saying you can live boldly and do big things if you have even a little faith. The important thing is to have that faith anchored in Him.

The disciples asked for increased faith, and they got it in full measure after the resurrection. The small band  set to work  under the Holy Spirit’s  power, and the world saw the gospel grow rapidly and eventually spread to every corner of the earth.

Like the disciples, Fanny Crosby had her small faith.  At age thirty,  she went to a church service where the preacher made an altar call. Fanny had gone to the altar before, but this time was different. While the congregation sang  “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?” Fanny became  so deeply moved, she went forward  and committerd her life   to Jesus,  about whom  she later  wrote  over eight thousand hymns. The big result of her small faith surrender was that she became  one of the most prolific  hymn-writers  in Christian hymnody.  Chances are your church’s hymnbook  has  several of her hymns in it.   Fanny’s small step of faith blossomed into  a worldwide testament of hymns to the glory of God.

If your request is “Lord, increase my faith,”  you will get an answer that brings results far beyond your expectations. Jesus is always ready to grant such a request. So  step out with your small faith  and allow Christ to  make  it  work  like  the power embedded in a mustard seed.

Always,

Judith

“Now faith is the substance of things
      hoped for,
The evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 12:1