Faith is a mystery. We experience it, and yet do not fully understand the experience of our faith. Faith transcends our senses. We cannot taste, touch, see, smell or hear faith, yet we know that our encounters with faith alter our lives in wonderful ways. 

Planting a Seed

At one point, when Jesus walked this earth as a man, he admonished his disciples that if their faith was the size of a mustard seed…big things happened.

A long time ago, I wanted to see for myself what sort of plant developed from a mustard seed, so I planted a mustard seed one spring in one of my flower beds. The mustard seed is about 1-2 millimeters in diameter, but it grew into a bush about three feet high and just as wide. 

The experiment with the mustard seed left a lasting impression on me. 

First of all, Jesus could have said that if our faith was the size of a corn kernel, a radish or tomato seed then what is impossible will become possible. But why a mustard seed? 

Although divine, omniscient, and omnipresent, I believe Jesus is also practical. Without a doubt, I believe he uses whatever he can to get his point across to us. 

In the case of a mustard, it was familiar to those with whom he was conversing and still today, his point is practical and clear. Anyone who has planted any kind of a seed knows that when you put it in the ground, water it, give it sunlight, keep the weeds away, wa la! A plant grows. 

Secondly, planting any seed causes me to wonder. How is it that inside that little ovule everything that is needed to produce life is inside that little ovule? It is a mystery that does not have to be explained in order for me to believe. 

So is faith.  

Years ago, I came to a crucial junction in my life. I was ready to choose death by suicide. But instead, miraculously, wondrously and mysteriously, Jesus appeared to me in such a way that caused me to believe. 

In a moment of time, I somehow knew that what Jesus offered me; a hand up over a wall, a different life than the one I was living, was a ligament offer. The moment that I accepted this invitation from him, I knew I’d changed in an indescribable way.  

Since then, insurmountable, impossible and incredible things have come to pass in my life. My faith has grown and continues to grow although I cannot measure it in a tangible way. 

I also know that what seemed impossible; a happy marriage, mental wellness and relationships with my siblings has come about. 

Though I do not understand how Jesus draws us into a relationship with himself, I do know that he does and that he did for me. 

Why bother nurturing a mustard seed? The mystery that surrounds a seed is indeed a mystery. But it is also a fact. Nurture it, and it grows.