19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. (Mathew 17:19-21).
The Bible is a composition of various genres and figures of
speech. It is a combination of stories, historical events, poetry, proverbs, and
figurative speech and so on. For example, what kind of speech is this: “The sky
over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (Deuteronomy
28:23). This figurative speech expresses the severity of the curses to come in the form of famine if
Israel disobeyed God’s Word.
What about shifting mountains? You can imagine the enormity of the
catastrophic consequences if everyone in the world possessed a
mustard-seed-sized faith and is able to physically move mountains as they
wished. Why would God give such ability to us who have a very limited wisdom?
Therefore, as we take the spirit of Christ’s words, we understand
that God will do the impossible in our lives if we learn to believe in Him. You
don’t need a mountain-sized faith to move a mountain-sized problem. Just a
mustard-seed-sized faith in a God who is bigger than all the mountains in the
world is enough to move a mountain-sized adversity away. You don’t have to be a
giant of faith, just believe in a giant God.
KJV translation here is closer to the original language where it
uses the word “unbelief” instead of “little faith” unlike many other
translations. You either have faith or you don’t. Faith, as a grain of mustard
is good enough to move mountains.
No matter where you are today, God is able to help you through
your struggle and despair. Trust in Him. And of course, sometimes, more perseverance
through prayer (meaning, more of this) and fasting is much needed!
