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 17:20b
A while back a friend told me about watching a documentary in which a honey badger was fighting three leopards that were trying to kill him. The narrator said, “With predators you don’t have to win; you just have to be more trouble than you’re worth. You will come away worse off than the predator, but you will walk away.” My friend said she thought that is probably a fitting analogy for when we deal with the attacks of Satan.
She wrote to me:
I think I understand the mustard seed of faith now. It’s easy to have a big bold faith when everything is going right; when there’s nothing big to worry about; when it seems like every prayer is answered.
But when you’re down to your last meal about to watch your child die; or clutching at the hem of a robe with your very last hope; or when you’ve seen your entire life laid to waste and still acknowledge God (even though your friends come and tell you how wicked you are); or the last two coins you have in the world you give to God; when you go through trials and still continue through the valley and up the mountain, it’s not usually big faith that gets you there. It’s mustard seed faith, because your mind is screaming so many doubts; your heart is wavering; but inside there’s that mustard seed. That’s what moves mountains. Walking through hell but never dropping that seed. That’s what’s important to God; that’s what makes the blind see; the leper cleansed. None of those people had huge faith. They were holding that seed through every trial and through every dark day. God then waters the seed, and true faith grows through the trials, not the blessings.
Isn’t that beautifully said?! And it’s such an important point to remember. Faith doesn’t have to be big; it just has to be real.
We can grow our faith in good times through prayer and serious Bible study where we hide God’s word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). That investment will serve us well when we’re tested.
But it’s in the time of testing that God waters the seeds of faith. He pulls us through when He’s ready, or more likely when He sees that we are ready. (Don’t take the cake out of the oven too soon if you want it to be good.) But once He has pulled us through the fire, we can look back and know He is good, not just because of others’ testimony, but because we’ve experienced it ourselves (cf. John 4:42). Satan thought he had us cornered, but the mountains of doubt, fear, and misplaced priorities have now shifted. The path toward God widens and becomes more clear.
Sometimes we feel like that honey badger, and a pathetic sight he was, I’m sure. Perhaps that is what Job looked like to the spirit world— the angels rooting for him on one side, and Satan and the demons hoping the leopards would win. Not just one leopard, but three. God took away Job’s wealth, Job’s children, and Job’s health. What a pathetic picture he must have made, sitting in the dust and ashes, scraping the sores on his body with a broken piece of pottery. Disgusting.
But how did God and the angels see it? As brave. As humble. As full of faith. Was his faith greater before or after his trials? Job was faithful before that, and he was full of doubts and questions as he endured the suffering. But when it was over and God blessed him again, I think Job’s faith must have been changed by that point. A tested faith is a mature faith.
Satan is like a lion, like a leopard, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). It’s not that he will never attack someone with a mature faith. But he might think twice. Someone like that might just be more trouble to him than they’re worth.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for this journey of faith that I’m on, and for being there to help me with every step. Teach me to call on You when Satan attacks. May my trials serve the grand purpose of drawing me near to You and making me strong through the power of Your glorious and perfect strength. In humble faith I ask You to move the mountains in my life. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
by Christie Cole Atkins
with Beth Huotari
Related Reading:
Walk Worthy 