Any chance we get, we love to visit with our good friends Andreas and Ji Hyun. Andreas is German and Ji Hyun is Korean. They have brilliant son who is 10 years old who is also fun to play games with. It is fun hanging out with them because they love to share about their different cultures and traditions. One particular night before dinner Andreas describes to us how Germans eat throughout the day. This is how he described each meal:
A big breakfast fit for a King
A medium size lunch made for a Queen
A small servant’s size dinner, typically something light like a type of soup or open face sandwiches
We notice during our time in Europe this was a very common practice in several European countries. Usually dinner started later in the evening. Dinner would consist of healthy but simple opened faced sandwiches. Nothing hardy that we American typically think a dinner should be. Ever since learning about this we have tried to adopt this tradition as well. Anytime one of us wants to have soup and sandwiches we usually ask the other one, “Do you want to have a European style dinner this week?”
Last night while having soup and sandwiches for dinner, minus the soup, Jessica found something in her sandwich. There it was resting on the tip of her finger. She looked at me and said, “Look at this.” I responded, “What is it?” She answered and said, “This is how much faith you need to move a mountain.”
It was a mustard seed.
This made me think about some of the mountain(s) in my life. The 3,200 plus mile I will be riding during the Just+Hope Tour this summer and the many miles I will have to put in order to be ready for it. I think about the future ministry we feel lead to start in Europe and all the needs that come with it (the list is endless). I have tried to do it on my on my own strength, but all that has done is made me sick with worry and stress. It has caused me to “pick up” fear and anxiety instead of courage and faith. What I have found difficult doing on my own is easy for God with just a little bit of faith.
Whatever mountain you are facing in your life, big or small, put your faith in God and trust him. With Him all things are possible.
If you want more read on:
Jesus told his disciples, when they asked him to increase their faith, that they didn’t need a large amount of faith. A mustard seed size would do. What Jesus was trying to tell them in this parable is that it doesn’t take great faith to produce great results. That the results don’t depend on us; they depend on God. Have faith and God will give you what you need to move mountains and uproot trees.
A mustard seed is a speck, one of the tiniest seeds in the whole world. And yet, look at what it can become if we only believe.
