Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed

General Faith
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Hey! Just wanted to share some thoughts I recieved this week during my scripture studies! While reading in Matthew, one of the principles Christ teaches about has always spoken to me, the power of even the smallest amount of faith. In Matthew 13:31–32, the Savior compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, something tiny and seemingly insignificant that grows into a large, life giving tree. This metaphor really is both simple and profound. It teaches that faith does not need to begin as something grand or perfect in order to become powerful.

Too often, I find myself thinking that my faith must be strong, unwavering, and complete before it can truly make a difference in my life. However, Christ’s teaching suggests otherwise. Faith is not measured by its size at the beginning, but by its sincerity and its potential to grow. A small seed, when nurtured, can become something far greater than it initially appears.

This principle is illustrated beautifully in Luke 8:43–48, where a woman suffering for twelve years is healed simply by touching the hem of Christ’s garment. Her action may have seemed small, almost unnoticeable in a crowd, but it was filled with belief. Christ acknowledged her faith, saying, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” This moment showed that even a quiet, personal act of trust in God can lead to miraculous outcomes.

Similarly, in Mark 2, we read about the paralytic man whose friends lowered him through a roof to reach Jesus. While the miracle itself is striking, what stands out is that Christ responded to their faith, it was expressed through effort, creativity, and persistence. Again, it was not perfection that prompted the miracle, but genuine belief paired with action.

These accounts have personal significance for me. There are times when I feel that my faith is not strong enough. I feel like I fall short in consistency, understanding, or trust. It can be discouraging to compare my spiritual state to what I think it “should” be. Yet, the doctrine of the mustard seed reassures me that God does not require immediate perfection. What He asks for is willingness, a small, sincere desire to believe and to act.

This perspective changes how I approach my relationship with God. Instead of waiting until I feel spiritually “ready,” I can act now, even with imperfect faith. Small efforts, such as a simple prayer, a moment of scripture study, or a decision to trust God in a difficult situation, are not insignificant. They are seeds and over time, those seeds can grow into something strong and deeply rooted.

Ultimately, these scriptures teach me that miracles are not reserved for those with perfect faith, but for those who choose to exercise the faith they have. Even the smallest belief, when placed in Christ, has the power to heal, to strengthen, and to transform.

I’m sharing this here because I’d love to hear how others have experienced this principle in their own lives. So I would love to hear your thoughts! Have you seen when even a small amount of faith make a difference? What helps you keep your faith growing when it feels small or uncertain?

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@Gretan2404

Great post.
Let me be the first to welcome to this Forum. I see this is your first post. Good Job!

You will find other topics here about “faith” and about as many variations of that word’s definition as there are contributors. The term “faith” seems to have very little footing, even among Christians, and gets tossed about as a nebulous concept that people just accept cannot be pinned down. The difficulty grows when Jesus uses the word translated “faith” in a quantitative way, speaking of its “size” like a mustard seed, or quantity when he speaks of “having little faith”. The ambiguity can be cleared, at least a bit, by a understanding of how The Bible uses the term.

When we see through consistent usage that Faith, as it is used in The Bible, simply means “taking God at His word” the clouds begin to dissipate. “Taking God at His word” means if God said it, it is unshakably true. It is true when it makes sense to me and it is true when it doesn’t. If God said it, I accept it; I am taking God at His Word. So let’s look at the passage you presented in this light and see if we achieve some disambiguation.

And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief (Gk: apistía); for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith (Gk:pístis) 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 17:18-20)

Paraphrase:
So Jesus said to them, "Because you did not take God at His word; for assuredly, I say to you, if you DO take God at His word, even a little bit, like a tiny mustard seed does, (If God says “move that mountain) and you take Him at his word, you exercise that tiny bit of taking God at His word by speaking to the mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you if you are taking God at His word because nothing is impossible for God, and God is fulfilling His Word.

My perspective

KP

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You take this literally brother @KPuff? [the mountain]

J.

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Confidential to Bro. @Johann

The idea of “moving a mountain” has a long history of being a metaphor for an “impossibility”, and I suppose it had been a recognized metaphor by the time Jesus employed it in the passage before us (Matthew 17:18-20). A “metaphor” is a non-literal expression to denote a similarity to something literal, right? Metaphors often employ hyperbole to make their point. So, Is Jesus using the familiar idea of “moving a mountain” as a metaphor, or as hyperbole, or is He using it in some other way?

If it’s a metaphor, we can relate to this linguistic figure of speech, because we, too, might use it in that way. I might say “I moved mountains to be at your birthday party”, and I would be implying that I feel like I did the impossible to get here. But Jesus takes away that understanding by neutering the metaphor with the expressed expectation that “moving literal mountains” IS a real possibility; a realistic prospect that actually requires only a tiny supply of faith (taking God at His word). He upsets the metaphor with the phrase “and nothing will be impossible for you”. He is suggesting that if moving literal mountains is a real possibility, then everything God says is exceedingly more than possible, everything God says is firmly established Eternal Truth.

There are many examples of God’s people, taking God at His word, and doing the seemingly impossible with very little resources. Gideon completely routed the large conspiring armies of Amelek and Midian with a handfull (300) of shepherds carrying nothing more than clay pots and torches. (Jud. 7) (clay pots and torches are both metaphors of The church, but that’s a different post) Jesus suggesting that “moving literal mountains” IS possible should bring all these kinds of accounts back into the minds of these awestruck Jewish listeners. I have an inkling that Jesus, removing a recalcitrant implanted demon from an innocent epileptic child (which he just did in their watching) should inspire more awe than simply saying “move!” to a huge pile of dirt, and watching it obey (huge piles of dirt is also a metaphor for man, but again…). Moving mountains was no difficulty for Jesus; He had moved plenty of mountains without effort, and has promised to move many more before this dirt-ball planet expires. Where we see impossible obstacles, God sees potent opportunities to express His Glory.

The scene before us is an example of the different outcomes of taking God at His word, and failing to do so. What prevented His disciples from expelling the destructive demon from the boy? Jesus tells them:

"… Because of your apistis; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have pistis 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)

It was their pitiful “apistis” that prevented their success; their myopic failing to take God at His word. Either they didn’t believe something God had said, or they never bothered to ask God what He has to say about the situation in the first place. Jesus assures them that if they would just listen to God, and act precisely on what He says, moving a mountain is as simple as moving a pebble.

So, to answer your question, “yes”, I think Jesus employs this mountain moving metaphor much more literally than we expect. Our own apistis is applied when we think Jesus is saying we can move literal mountains by our own will or power, without taking direction to do so from God. To this kind of thinking, mountains remain as immovable to us as they were to those apistic disciples.

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Blessings through His Glorious Word
KP

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The jars and torches in Judges 7 aren’t explicitly metaphors of the church in the text itself, though they can be seen as typologically anticipating the New Testament theme of God displaying His power through weak vessels (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:7).

treasure in jars of clay [earthen vessels] – The word “vessel” (σκεῦος skeuos) means properly any utensil or instrument; and is applied usually to utensils of household furniture, or hollow vessels for containing things, Luk_8:16; Joh_19:29. It is applied to the human body, as made of clay, and therefore frail and feeble, with reference to its “containing” anything, as, e. g., treasure; compare Rom_9:22-23.
The word rendered “earthen,” (ὀστρακίνοις ostrakinois) means that which is made of shells (from ὄστρακινον ostrakinon), and then burnt clay, probably because vessels were at first made of burnt shells. It is suited well to represent the human body; frail, fragile, and easily reduced again to dust.
Paul’s point is that the “treasure” of the Gospel is not in gold, silver, or other precious metal vessels, but, essentially, in “dirt” vessels.

to show that the surpassing power – An elegant expressing denoting exceeding great power. The power seen in the apostles, in healing the sick, casting out devils, etc., did not reside in the apostles themselves, but was power belonging to God.

the power belongs to God – Rom_1:16;

not us. – Not us, apostles and preachers, who deliver God’s message.

My perspective brother.

J.

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I know just how you feel. I feel like that at times myself. But! Feeling like that doesn’t mean anything and it doesn’t change that God is real. I feel like I am lacking, like, I have not arrived yet. The best way I have found is to read His Word. And say it in your home everyday. Listen to lots of sermons and teaching videos on youtube or Godtube, sometimes those guys will say something just right, that talks to you and speaks your language, and…faith is increased.

The biggest problem I see with people is they are not fast to give the credit to God when something good happens.

Romans 10:17

**17 **So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…/KJV

Do a word study on the word “word” from this verse from a Concordance.

The spoken word is more powerful than than merely hearing it. So to speak out loud and pray say like, Psalm 91 will carry more spiritual weight than just thinking, Lord protect me. When Jesus spoke, a Universe was literally created.

I can’t count how many times I lost something in my house and so I say, Lord please help me find such and such…and it turns up fast! Other times I needed money and spoke Lord help me, and it’s amazing how fast he has helped me. When I go to recount the testimony to people quite a few are skeptical and try to explain it as a coincidence somehow, but I did a lot of praying about that and if I should tell my testimonies because many people don’t believe them. And His answer was basically, that there is no such thing on earth as co-incidences, the truth is, they are all God-incidences.

One time I needed money for bills or whatever and I prayed about it, Lord help me. And I get the feeling that I should look where I hide my money. But I had checked it last night to be sure if I had stashed some money and forgot about it. There was nothing in there, I know this so I didn’t get up tp look, I dismissed it as a random thought, my thought. Then I got a powerful unction to Check The Hiding Spot…and I was like, whoa is that you Lord? So I got myself up and walked over and dug into my spot and the container…and there was $400 with it. Praise The Lord!

If I had not just prayed about help maybe I would consider it was a coincidence and I missed it last night, but no! I had just prayed in faith and the unction came twice, I obeyed and so found it. (PTL!!)

I could post more testimonies of more times that even little faith but real faith, But it would be too much for one post.