Sometimes it seems that my faith capacity mirrors what is said about human beings only using a fraction of their brain’s power. I have been given God’s Holy Spirit, yet so often I feel ineffective.

I have been fully and miraculously saved from an eternity without God. The Creator of the Universe has adopted me and made me His daughter. He has bestowed on me all that it means to be His child.

However, too often I only use a small portion of the faith that’s been given to me. It’s as if I’ve been placed on a 10-speed bicycle and I haven’t even mastered a tricycle on my own.

In Matthew 17, Jesus both encourages and confounds His disciples.

“For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

A mustard seed is small. If you put one in your hand, you can’t even tell it is there. For years I had a tiny mustard seed taped to the inside of my Bible cover. It bore an indention in the cover that I could feel every time I opened my Bible.

When Jesus says that faith so small can move mountains, it seems impossible. Maybe that’s because I place the emphasis in this outlandish statement on the mountains instead of the One in whom my trust resides.

So often I ask, how can I have faith like that? How can I grow my faith? How can I believe God more?

These questions make me feel as small as the mustard seed.

That is not God’s intention.

He wants this mustard seed promise to soak deep into my heart. God will take care of the water and the sunshine. I must let Him cultivate my faith.

Then, I simply need to obey.

Guaranteed, if God commands me to tell a mountain to move, and I do what He says, the earth will shift.

I need to take my attention off the over-sized bike and enjoy my Savior pushing from behind.

He wants me to experience the rush of the wind and the thrill of the ride that I won’t get stuck on the tricycle.

If I was given faith that I could master, what kind of faith would that be?