Mustard Seed Faith: Reading The Book of Matthew (Grief & Healing)

What if healing doesn’t require big faith…What if all God is asking for is something as small as a mustard seed?

In this episode of Rise in Mourning: Finding Jesus at the Threshing Floor, we sit with one powerful truth from Scripture—faith as small as a mustard seed is enough.

Today, we open Matthew 17:20 and Matthew 13:31–32 and gently explore what it means to hold onto even the smallest faith in the middle of loss.

In this episode, we talk about:

•What “mustard seed faith” really means

•How God meets you in your weakest moments

•Finding hope when your faith feels almost gone

•Believing you will feel joy again—even if you can’t feel it yet

•Trusting that God can use your pain for something greater

If you are grieving, overwhelmed, or simply holding onto the smallest thread of hope… this episode is for you.

Even in mourning, we rise 🌿

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#biblestudy #thebookofmatthew #mustardseedfaith #christianity #grief

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What if healing doesn't require big faith? What if all God is asking for is something as small as a mustard seed? Because in grief, sometimes that's all we have. Welcome back to Rise in Morning, Finding Jesus at the Threshing Floor. I'm your host, Kristen Hajar. Today we're gonna do some Bible study. I just want to read scripture to you and discuss it. We will be reading Matthew 13 and 17. I would love it if you get your Bible and read along with me. If you can't right now, I'll put the verses on screen as we go along. But at some point, take the time to reflect on the scripture we discussed today. I will be reading from the CSB version, and my Bible will be linked down below in the description box. When you're grieving, people talk about having faith. But what they don't tell you is sometimes your faith feels non-existent, not strong, not confident, just barely there, barely hanging on. Really quickly before we go on, I just want to remind you that if you love this channel and this podcast, please support it by leaving a five-star review. Make sure that you're subscribed to YouTube and follow anywhere you're listening. It really helps out the show. And when you leave a positive review, it helps others see the show. So please do so. And you can follow me anywhere at Rise in Morning for community tips and encouragement. Alright, so the two main verses we're going to be reading from today is Matthew 13, 31 through 32, and Matthew 17, 20. So if you'd like to get your Bibles now, this is a good time to do so. Matthew 13, 31 through 32 says, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It's the smallest of all the seeds. But when grown, it's taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree. And Matthew 17, 20 says, For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you. All right, so let's start with Matthew 1720 and let's break that verse down first. Matthew 17, 20 says, If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you. Now, Jesus didn't say if you have great faith, perfect faith. He said mustard seed faith. Now, if you've never seen a mustard seed, look it up because it's teeny tiny. So this means a tiny, fragile, easy to overlook seed is still enough. With mustard seed faith, scripture says nothing is impossible for you. When I lost my son, I was holding on to the hem of Jesus' garment. Literally, I was holding on to any hope, any faith that I had because I was fighting within myself, truly. And when I read this verse, it speaks so much to grievers because God never required me to have strong faith in my grief. He just kept asking me to keep bringing him the little that I had. There were days I didn't have big faith. There were days that I was angry and screaming at God why he took my son away. Um, I didn't understand anything. I was really struggling. I didn't have answers. I didn't have peace. I didn't even have hope for the future. All I had was the smallest thought. Maybe this pain won't last forever. Maybe I'll feel joy again. Maybe God can still use this me somehow. And that is what I held on to. That was my little mustard seed faith. I was looking forward to something else eventually. When you're going through troubled times, mustard seed faith can look like believing the pain won't last forever, believing joy could return even if you can't feel it yet. Believing your life still has purpose and meaning, believing God can use your suffering for something greater, believing this isn't the end of your story, believing that you can share your suffering so that others don't feel alone. And much more, all you have to have is a little bit of belief, a little bit of faith. Now, if we go on to read Matthew 13, 31 through 32, it says, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It's the smallest of all seeds, but when grown, it's taller than the garden plants and become a tree. So think about it: a tiny seed that grows into something strong, something sheltering, something life-giving. That's a big deal. What started as the smallest, most fragile faith in me, God has slowly been growing into something I could never have created on my own. The change I feel in me, maybe some people won't see it or ever understand, but that's okay because I know it's coming from God. And he's the only one I need to aim to please. He's the one I need to be grateful for. He's the one I'm enduring for. Because when I get to my end, I want him to think that I'm a soldier. That's what I think about when I feel weak. I think God can use all our weaknesses and he can transform it. And I tell myself in those moments that I'm a soldier of Christ. I picture what a warrior would look like. It's definitely not me, but I try to envision something bigger than me, stronger than me, braver than me, one of his mighty soldiers. And I tell myself, I am a soldier. I'm not a victim. And that's how I pull myself out of my weakness and my thoughts that are trying to tear me down. My self-doubt, uh, any pity, all of that. This is what I think about. I and I repeat it to myself, and it helps me um continue and keep going. It's almost like mantras, if you will. Um, you have to picture yourself in a situation, tell yourself affirmations to kind of pull you out of a moment of weakness. And once you get used to doing them, it really does help. Um it helped me in my grief. And um, it's something I still continue to do, it's something I still continue to practice. Along with reading scripture, I meditate and think about what I've read throughout the day, which also keeps me in alignment with God and just my my heart posture with Him. So all of these things really help to make me become a better and faithful Christian. And I want to say that my healing didn't start with strong faith. Like I said in the beginning of the episode, I was hanging on by threads, but it started with that tiny seed, and God can work with just that. This suffering is real, it is painful, it is valid, but it's not the end of what God is doing in you. We're not gonna turn to it, but I just wanted to touch really quick. In Romans 8, it tells us to have hope for what we can't see as we wait patiently, know that all things work together for the good of those who love God. And that right there is such a hopeful verse. No matter our circumstances, no matter what we're facing or have faced, we can know, it says in Romans 8, we know that God is using it, that God is working everything together for the good. So even though I may not understand why things happened, why it happened the way it happened, all the things that unfolded in in the years and months uh after my son passed away, I don't need to understand anymore. Um it it doesn't serve me to understand because I never will. There is no understanding losing a child. So once you surrender that and you let that go, you start realizing that okay, I don't need to understand everything and I'm not going to. So what can I do now? What do I have? What tools do I have? And this is your tool, the Bible. Hit the word of God. This is your tool to get through all your trials and tribulations. And doesn't mean it's not gonna hurt, doesn't mean it's not gonna be painful, that you're not gonna struggle. Quite the opposite, actually. But you have the tools here, you have um the resource, you have the word of God to get you through your pain. And you have, and you know that he is working everything out for the good, and we will see redemption one day. And that is the hope that we have for loss and for our future. That, you know, my son is more whole than than we are at this moment. Your son, your daughter, your sister, your brother, your mother, your father, your best friend, whoever it is that you lost, they're more alive than we are in in God's kingdom right now. And that is something that we should take um to heart and we should be so grateful for that one day we will be that way as well. And we will be reunited with our loved ones and we will be renewed. And that is something very hopeful to look forward to, and it brings me comfort to know that he is waiting for us and all will be worked out, and I don't need to understand right now because I won't. So I just have to have faith, even as small as a mustard seed. And if all you have today is mustard seed faith, that is enough. God can grow something beautiful from something that small. Because even in mourning, we rise. Thanks for watching or listening today. Please like, comment, and subscribe. In the meantime, hop over to my Instagram where I post almost daily. Everything will be linked in the description box down below, especially my Bible that I'm using today. And I'll see you next week.