“… if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.” Matthew 17:20
Faith is often described as belief and complete trust in something or someone. We may think that this kind of faith is difficult to achieve and that we will never have faith that can move mountains. But sometimes faith comes suddenly and unexpectedly, as a spontaneous response, and this seed of faith moves metaphorical but real mountains in our lives.
Jesus gave us an example of an ordinary and despairing woman who had faith that moved mountains. Her faith appeared unexpectedly, seemingly spontaneous, but as firm belief and complete trust in Jesus. This woman had suffered hemorrhaging for twelve years, and she could find no cure for her condition. In her story, told in the Gospel of Mark, Mark 5:21-34, she visited numerous doctors, and used all her money in search for a cure. Yet, her condition had only worsened. Mark 5:25-26 With no relief in sight, she must have felt completely desperate and despondent.
It was while in this condition, she heard that Jesus had arrived in her town. No doubt His reputation for healing people had spread to the town even before He arrived. Suddenly, this stricken woman had the opportunity to be cured. She was determined to seize this chance of relief from her suffering. Her actions displayed this urgency. She pushed her way through the crowd, just to touch Jesus’ cloak, believing that Jesus could heal her. Mark 5:27-28 This was her last-ditch lunge for help.
Jesus healed her. She felt His power wash over her being. She knew her body had been relieved from it’s suffering. The mountain of sickness had been removed. Jesus announced to her and to the crowd that this woman’s last-chance reaching out towards Him for help was a display of faith. This was faith the size of a mustard seed that moved a mountain.
We too can be in a hopeless and desperate situation, with nowhere else to turn, and make what looks like a final lunge towards God. This is faith displayed as a desperate cry of response that we belief God to be our only chance of help.
For the woman in the story, faith in Jesus was connected with physical healing. Today, we may not see mountains of physical sickness disappear in the same way as when Jesus was on earth, but other mountains are removed. Belief and trust in Jesus Christ and His saving power removes the mountain of sin in our lives, Acts 10:43, and restores our relationship with God. John 1:12
Maybe you know of this transformation in your own life, or on hearing this news that Jesus is in town and offers the chance of a changed life, that you will seize this opportunity and reach out to Him.
Small mustard seeds of faith do move mountains and they change the landscape of our lives forever.
rachelbritton 