Have you ever heard the expression, “She has the faith of a mustard seed!” You might have seen individuals wearing tiny seeds in a locket or a pendant around their neck. You might have even seen a vial of mustard seeds for sale at a religious bookstore, and wondered what they were.
Mustard seeds are one of the metaphors Jesus used to describe faith and what it means. The mustard seed is very tiny — it is smaller than a grain of rice. But when the mustard seed is planted in a garden with other plants, it will grow faster and taller than the rest. It will practically erupt into a wide, bushy plant! It is hard to believe that such a strong, healthy plant comes from a seed so tiny, but it does.
Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed to encourage those whose faith isn’t always as strong as it might appear. If the tiny mustard seed can yield such great things, so can the faith of a person, even when they feel lost among all those who seem so much bigger, stronger, and more capable than they are. The tiniest faith matters, and can blossom into the most effective and grateful follower.
But there is another meaning to the mustard seed, one that goes beyond faith. It is the promise that you can do what you set out to do, no matter how small you might feel. The mustard seed is just waiting to be planted — and as soon as it is, it finds its purpose, and grows faster than any plant around it. Humans are much the same way. We might hold back and think we aren’t strong enough, good enough, smart enough — but if we simply have that tiny bit of faith in ourselves, and nurture it with a plan and hope, then we can be just like that mustard seed. We can amaze ourselves with all the good we can do!
So the next time you feel as though your faith is slipping — your faith in yourself, or your faith in God — pick up that tiny mustard seed and hold it close to your heart. The mustard seed has power, even if it can hardly be seen — and so do you.