The Faith of a Poppy Seed

As many of you know Ken is still without a job. He currently doesn’t have any job prospects. All of his job leads have dissolved. Mix that with our son Josh who seems to be totally lost, concerns for other family members and friends and the current state of our economy and yeah, you could say I’ve got a lot on my mind. I wanted to preface my blog with this update.

My daily devotional time has found me reading the New Testament. A few weeks back I felt God prodding me to start reading the NT one chapter a day, starting at Matthew 1. As I read in the NIV I also use The Message as a study guide. Yesterday I read Matthew 17, which among other amazing comments and stories by Jesus has the verse about having the faith of a mustard seed. Sometimes God is so obvious with trying to get His point across to me that I have to laugh out loud. I had just spent several moments journaling to God about my all out fear regarding the concerns of this life. I then read Matthew 17:20 "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle." The Message. I’ve read this verse many times but as I struggle through the difficulties of this life it’s great to have the reminder. I never fully understood the mustard seed, because let’s face it, it’s not a common every day thing to have in a house. But oh the poppy seed (I love poppy seed muffins!) that I understand, the faith of a poppy seed, so small but so real. I closed my bible, turned on my computer to work and found an eCard from my dear friend Dawn that had the saying “It’s not the size of the Mountain but the strength of the Mountain Mover” with the verse “Behold I am the Lord…is anything too difficult for me?” Jeremiah 32:27. What really stood out to me were the images of mountains, over and over different mountains. OK God I get the point. My mountains seem huge, unmovable, unbeatable, you though, you are bigger than them. I must have faith, I must believe.

The final feather in the cap of God making his point came this morning. I read the parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18. This story highlights the insurmountable gift that God has given us for forgiving our “debt” against him and us such we should also forgive others because what they’ve done to us no way compares to what we’ve done to God. As I was reviewing this over and over it clicked to me that Jesus was talking about our debt being erased and yet HE was the one that was GOING to erase our debt! Yet he hadn’t done it yet! Wow DEEP! So I contemplated Jesus words and his stories and I praised God that he had me journaling and studying Jesus’ life and stories. I then went to church this morning and Nate our pastor states that for the next 10 weeks we will be studying the stories that Jesus taught! Whoa, OK God I get it!

Today I praise God for His unending hope and comfort. I may be up and down in my faith; I may let worries and stress get the best of me. But God, the Mountain Mover, he is never failing. His love and comfort are all sustaining.