Tiny things can hold a world of potential. A computer chip that fits on the tip of a finger can process thousands of equations per minute. An ant
smaller than a grain of rice can lug up to 50 times its body weight. And a seed of God's faithfulness, though miniscule when held before our eyes, can be transformed into the mighty tree God raises to shelter us as it compels the wonder of others by its height, breadth and strength.

Believing in the deepest parts of our hearts that Jesus is God is the only way we can truly know Jesus, or understand why knowing Him matters. Belief unlocks the door that allows us to go beyond "head knowledge" to experience the reality, as Gospel singer Yolanda Adams says, that God is "cool." But faith can be a tricky thing. Every day tends to present challenges big, small and in between, that can cause those who do believe in Jesus as God to question how much faith we actually have in Jesus to see us through. Maybe our employer is threatening another round of layoffs, and we're wondering how we will face those bills with a pink slip in hand instead of a paycheck. Perhaps we are fighting disappointment and loneliness when a best friend unexpectedly turns her back on a friendship cherished since childhood. Or maybe we're at the breaking point after suffering an insensitive remark from our spouse, a moment of desperation ignited by compromised dreams and years of misunderstandings. Whatever the circumstance, when we are submerged within and our feet no longer touch the bottom, it can be easy to wonder if we believe enough in God's faithfulness. And by the way, just how much faith is enough?

In America, we live in a super-size culture that believes everything is better if it is bigger. From Big Macs and Biggie Fries to being a "big spender" who has made it to the "big time," being big is considered a big deal.

But just as God's thoughts are not our thoughts, He takes a radically different view of the size issue. God understand the value of little things. Scripture reveals repeatedly that He delights in using the small, the seemingly insignificant, the "bit on the side" that others would typically disregard in powerful, life-changing ways. How ironic that a God so big - bigger than anything the human mind can grasp, infinite in fact - is intimately concerned with things so small!

Jesus Christ understood how difficult it would be for us to believe that little things can be so valuable. He knew we would face many obstacles that would tempt us to wonder if a little faith can be enough. That is why He says "if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

When I was a girl, my mother had a mustard seed pendant, which housed the seed in a glass ball. The seed was unimpressive. Much smaller than a dime, punier than a shelled peanut - it looked like a tiny crumb. Visible but just barely. But the amazing thing is, that's all the faith Jesus asks of us to get things started! We hand Him that crumb, that little bit of "nothing," and in time He uses his infinite power to grow it, making it so grounded and strong that even a mountain cannot resist our faith when it is firmly lodged within His will.

Growing our faith in Jesus as God is a process that is not easy or quick. Like a novice gardener who plants a seed Monday and expects a full-grown tree ready for picking Tuesday, I've often been frustrated expecting quick progress in my ability to fully trust Jesus, to believe that He will see me through everything. As aggravating as the waiting continues to be, it has allowed me to see what He enjoys doing with a smidgen of faith, and how He can turn it into more than I ever thought possible.

Little things can "wow" us in many places. Once such place for me is the Chicago Botanic Garden. Located about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, its 385 acres of flowers, plants and ponds invite visitors to sink themselves in nature's beauty. During my first trip to the Garden, the flora 's variety captivated me while the garden's tranquility seeped through my skin to settle in my bones. I strolled along rows bursting with red, pink and orange rose bushes, walked on winding paths to gaze at the raked sand and stones of a Japanese garden, and watched several ducks paddling in the runoff from a small waterfall. The birds resembled feathered footballs turned on end as they dunked their heads underwater to search for food.

Though there was much to see, what I remembered most were some white flowers growing near one of the stairway paths I traveled. Round and extremely small in diameter, the flowers were perched on thin stalks with tiny petals radiating from a yellow core. When I paused and peered at a blossom, I noticed the petals' ridges and the center's textured surface. I couldn't help but think how amazing it is that our infinite God, who created time and space, who shaped the sun and the Milky Way as well as stars, planets and galaxies that man has yet to discover, cares enough to make such minute things filled with intricate beauty.

Though Jesus thinks much of small things and encourages us to view personal faith in Him as small yet with countless possibilities, Satan yearns for us to dismiss it as insubstantial and irrelevant. He sows the idea in our minds that if we really measured up, our faith would always be full and in season. The con job can be convincing. The contrast between how we would like our faith to look and what it really amounts to can leave us feeling a bit like Charlie Brown in "A Charlie Brown Christmas": stuck with a stunted tree with few branches and needles that's no match for the lush evergreen one might associate with being "truly" faithful.

The only time our faith isn't enough is when we decide to go it alone. If we convince ourselves that we are the ones on whom our faith depends, that we and not Jesus provide the strength that enables spiritual maturity, we're defeated before we begin.

Asking God to help us break through walls of self-reliance and self-sufficiency we've erected around ourselves, to blast pride that foolishly claims we don't need Him, will not only help pave the way for our faith in Christ to develop dramatically, but also help establish us forever in his kingdom which consists of all "created intelligences, both in heaven and on earth, who are willingly subject to God and thus in fellowship with Him." (1) When speaking of His kingdom, Jesus again uses the humble mustard seed to make a comparison:

"Then He [Jesus] said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.'" (Mark 4:30-32)

If we want God to nurture our faith, He will. If we study His Word and keep in constant touch with Him through prayer, repenting of our sins and living in His strength, He will take our tiny seeds of faith and make them grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7, NIV). As we develop He will cultivate our desire to know Him, to be with Him, to love Him. God does this because He loves us with no limits, and His ultimate desire is for each of us to be one with Him. What better reason to believe without a doubt that a little bit of faith can go a long way!

Footnotes 1. Unger, Merrill F., edited by R. K. Harrison, contributing editors Howard F. Vos and Cyril J. Barber, "The New Unger's Bible Dictionary," Moody Press, Chicago, 1988, 1985, 1966, 1961,1957, p. 740.

Sources "The New Unger's Bible Dictionary," Merrill F. Unger, edited by R. K. Harrison, contributing editors Howard F. Vos and Cyril J. Barber, Moody Press, Chicago, 1988, 1985, 1966, 1961,1957.

©Copyright 2003 Ann Pinkney. All rights reserved.