Thursday, January 25, 2007

Mustard Seeds

One of the ironies about faith is that while God says that not much is required (as tiny as a mustard seed), the trials used to grow our faith our often HUGE. Perhaps it's that very contradiction that increases our spiritual muscles the most.

I think I must have a nomadic spirit, or perhaps I'm a gypsy, because I have moved more times in my life than I'd care to count - and no, I'm not a military brat so I can't use that as an excuse. I'm reminded of the many furniture movers that have helped me along the way. It's not all that remarkable when the big, burly ex-football-player-types show up to move the furniture. That's what most of us expect movers to look like. But what's impressive is when the slight-in-stature guys show up for the heavy lifting. My first thought is always "How on earth are these guys going to move this stuff?" But they always do. And I must admit, they're often more efficient and faster than the big guys. It's apparent that what they lack in bulk, they compensate for with discipline, focus and strategy. They've figured out the physics of movement and somehow manage to get the job done.

I think God grows our faith in the same way. If we only move the small boxes and the household knick-knacks, how will we ever grow? How will we ever know how much we're capable of? It's only by facing the big stuff that we have the opportunitiy to exercise our spiritual muscles. What a wonderful blessing to realize that you're much stronger than you thought you were.

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