Mustard Seeds and Mulberry Trees

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 

The Lord replied, “If you had faith 

the size of a mustard seed, 

you could say to this mulberry tree, 

‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you'

(from Luke 17:5-10)

I can empathize with the apostles who asked Jesus, "Increase our faith!" as people suffering from Hurricane Ian.

As I watched people wading through floods, surveying damage, and enduring without power, they probably wondered how much faith was needed to make it through their experience.

The apostles had seen the works that Jesus had done and the determination he had to live as the Holy one of God.

As apostles, they knew their mission was to carry on Jesus' work and that they needed more faith to build God's kingdom as he was.

And so, they asked for more faith.

So, Jesus uses the images of a mustard seed and a mulberry tree to help them understand they are asking for the wrong thing.

Jesus understands it's not about having 25% or 50% more faith instead it's about using what you do have such as a seed.

For me the song: "Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow" better describes how faith grows.

It seems to me that a person feels their faith growing as you move forward with a life based on prayer, which leads to action, which proclaims the kingdom of God.

I think about faith as practicing what I know, considering appropriate action, and by grace, my faith will grow in breadth and depth as I work to build God's kingdom.

I don't believe I'll ever plant a mulberry tree in the ocean, but I'm confident that, by God's grace, my faith will grow.