Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Mustard Seed


Often times things come up in my life that seem impossible. Whether it be a stage in my life of hurt and healing, or simply a task I must perform. I think to myself, "Good heavens this is way too hard. It just isn't even worth it." Yet, the next week, or day, or even the next hour, I find I have completed said task and have come out just fine, if not stronger.

Now, to say this is all my doing would be foolish and downright wrong, however I WAS able to accomplish a task I thought to be impossible.

In today's post I would like to posit a simple philosophy: Nothing we are called to do is too difficult to accomplish.

God gives us missions. Just as soldiers are sent out to fight or gather intel, we too are sent out for God and His purposes. Some missions will be rather easy and quick, but others will be long, hard, vicious fights where we drain every ounce of strength from our bodies.

But of one thing we can be sure, God will never EVER assign us a task that is impossible for us to complete. If we abide in His strength and will then nothing is too much for us. Now, if you think this is ridiculous, if you think it's silly to think we can do everything with God on our side, then let me make one caveat:

If God has truly called you to do a certain assignment. You CAN do it and the only thing that will stop you is yourself. I can tell you with absolute certainty that if the entire time you follow God's calling and realize that He is guiding you (not yourself) then you will succeed.

This principle lies in one crucial aspect of Christianity: Faith. We can do all things if Christ is leading us and if we have absolute faith in Him.

This is illustrated beautifully in these verses from the Bible:

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” -- Matthew 17:14-21

Furthermore, when times are tough is when God is most evident. In Philippians we see that God allows us to do all things, hard or easy, through His strength and His alone:

"I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." -- Philippians 4:10-13

So today I exhort you to trust God in all times. Do not have joy and faith only when times are easy and you are feeling blessed, but learn to rejoice and have faith in every circumstance. Never forget that when assigned a calling by God, even when it seems like you are at the end of your rope, that you have nothing left, you still always, always have God. Nothing God gives you will be too hard for you to get through. You will get through on Christ's power and through His glory. 

No comments: