When we take the first step in faith, faith becomes miracle

​So Jesus and his disciples come upon a crowd. A man desperately kneels at Jesus' feet and begs him to heal his sick son. The man tells Jesus, "I brought him to your disciples and they couldn't heal him."

Oh boy, stand back. If looks could kill.

Jesus says, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”

Now, you know the disciples want to go crawl in a hole and hide. Jesus' glare. His frustration. They've got that whole "just wait until your father gets home" feeling going on.

Then Jesus turns his attention to the kid. And he heals him. Instantly.

The crowd clears. The disciples are afraid to say a word, but one of them finally gets the courage to ask - "why couldn't we do that?"

Then Jesus delivers the quote many of us, including me, have hanging in our rooms or in our offices. He gives them the reason many of us carry around mustard seeds on keychains or in our pockets.

He says, you couldn't do it “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

As I've reflected on Jesus' words, I've come to believe what we should really be carrying around are mustard trees and not seeds. Granted, the seeds are a little more portable, an easier fit in the old front pocket, but I think what Jesus is wanting us to understand here is, when we take the first step in faith, even a tiny step, he can help us turn the smallest of seeds into the biggest and most sprawling of trees.

It's amazing to look at what those little mustard seeds actually grow into!

I don't think Jesus wants us to spend much time worrying about how small our faith is. He knows our faith will never grow - no matter what size it is - until we begin to fully understand the miracles he can work out of any step we take with him by our side.

I often say, when I crossed the finish line of my first marathon, I didn't spend much time reflecting on what I'd just done. No, instead I was instantly overwhelmed with the possibilities of what I was suddenly capable of doing.

On that sign in my office, with the verse Matthew 17:20, are these words from a favorite song:

I won't win this battle with the strength in my own hands,
You're the mountain-mover and only you can.

I look back on my running journey and see what God has made of it, one of my little and muddling steps at a time.

And I look back on my life - and I see what God has made of a simple conversation with a friend, out of a simple gift or a message. I see this mustard tree I'm becoming because of the miracles God has worked in me through others, through acts of kindness that might appear to be small seeds, but in reality they are part of a sprawling tree.

I've come to believe there are a couple of ways to live life as believers. We can sit back and witness the miracles Jesus works - much like the disciples did in this story. Or - or, we can give Jesus a hand and be miracle workers.

I believe the former choice - being witnesses - I think that's the best way possible to survive this life. But the latter - giving Jesus a hand - I've come to believe that's the best way to live life.

Thankfully for us, the disciples went on to live life. The church is what it is today because they chose the latter.

Survive life or live life?
Like the disciples, we get that choice.
Today and every day.
It's our choice.