Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Lk 17:6) and “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:22-24)
Faith as small as a mustard seed? Check.
Faith in God? Check.
Believing if I talk to trees and mountains that they’ll go swimming? Oh, um… well…
I pretty sure Jesus didn’t mean we’re supposed to go around re-landscaping the world. So many times, though, I have a big general “faith” that God exists and that He’s God. But it’s those specific times, when God tells me to do or say something that seems impossible, that my mustard-seed faith has a chance to stay small or to grow up by taking that next step.
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?… In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. …Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” (James 2:14, 17)