Episode 96 - The parable of the Mustard Seed

With the tiniest bit of faith , the impossible is possible 

Matthew 13:31-32

Matthew 17:20

Mark 4 : 30-32

Luke 13:18-19

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Hello and welcome to Shine. I am your host, Nicole Florence, and today's parable, which I think we all know and have been taught probably since we were in Sunday school and vacation Bible school, is the comparison of our faith to a mustard seed. This story is told in several verses in Matthew and Mark. I will put those in the show notes for you to review, although I'm sure many of you recall how Jesus tells us how powerful our faith in God can be. And he compares it to a and it's important to truly understand what is the mustard seed and what is the mustard plant. And if you've ever been given one, like I have, my friend KP, it is the smallest, teeniest seed you could ever imagine on the tip of your finger. And what's incredible about the mustard seed and the plant that he is referring to is that it grows very quickly. It germinates, it grows into a plant and eventually a tree, probably quicker than other comparable plants that we are familiar with, but even more so. It can grow and flourish during a drought, as well as if it is in highly toxic soil, like salty soil. So it is a seed in a plant that can still flourish during extremely toxic conditions. And then when it does flourish, it produces this very thick fibrous plant shrub that can be used for shade in the desert. I believe if you look deeper, this plant could also be used for antibacterial like healing properties. But we also know that he reminds us that it just provides refuge and shade to the birds as well as to us. And so when I was little, I loved that parable because it reminded me, especially because I was small, you know, I was a kid, I was a child, that I could be impactful, that I could do impossible things through our Lord and Savior, which of course still holds true. It reminds us that He requires very little of us, but just our small faith can be incredibly powerful, but not just for us. And as I've gotten older, um hopefully wiser, I don't know, more worn by life, because we know life keeps lifeing, I have really understood that the faith that I have as small as a mustard seed, that can still flourish, that can do the impossible, that can survive the most toxic of conditions that we know life can bring us, can not only provide me refuge and shelter, but can also do that for others. That my faith can do impossible things for others, and that is part of our purpose. I know my purpose is how our belief and faith and hope in him, and of course, right, I'm I get a little self-centric. You know, I I pray a lot of times for things for for me that I need or or want for myself or for my loved ones. But with that prayer and with that hope and with that faith, just like that mustard seed, what flourishes from my faith, what provides refuge for my faith, is incredibly impactful and may provide the impossible for my brothers and sisters here on earth. And many times in ways that I may not even know or understand, but through faith I don't have to. You know, my um son and I went to dinner um last night at you know local restaurant Chili's, and our poor waitress, she she looked flustered, she looked tired, she looked a little defeated, and she was kind of you know kidding of yeah, I could complain, but you know, nobody can do anything about it. And I asked her, I said, so if there is something I could do for you or I could solve for you, what would it be? And she paused. She was like, nobody's ever asked me that. Um and she looked at me and she said, Are you a praying woman? And I said, Absolutely. And she said, Could you pray for my mother's sight? And she didn't give tons of details, you know. I I didn't need them, and I said, I will absolutely pray for your mother's vision and for her sight, and it's those moments where you understand that the mustard seed of faith that you have can provide so much to those around you, even those you don't even know. But it's important for us to seek out those spaces and places where our mustard tree can provide the shade and the refuge for those around us. I hope you take a look at what the size of a mustard seed looks like, what the tree looks like. Like we've talked about, nothing is randomly placed in the Bible. And it's important for us to understand that our faith, no matter how toxic the conditions, no matter how impossible it appears that that seed is not gonna flourish, we know through him it will, and it will provide what is needed, and in many times abundantly so. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.