God's Math

I ran a daycare out of my home during my twenties. I had my son and six other boys I watched full-time. One of the boys, Douglas was three years old. He was struggling with potty training. One day, I could tell he desperately needed to use the bathroom.

I said, “Douglas, do you have to go number one or number two?”

He looked up at me quizzically, so I explained what that meant. His whole countenance lit up with understanding.

He proudly announced, “I have to go number six!”

We aren’t much different then Douglas. We think we understand the math, but God shakes his head.

We exclaim, “I got it!” but we don’t.

In Matthew 17, we read about a desperate father who falls to His knees at Jesus feet, and begs Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son. Jesus’ disciples had not been able to heal him.

Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here." (Luke 17:18-19, The Message).

Jesus then commanded the demon to come out and it was gone. Later in private the disciples asked him why they couldn’t heal the boy.

Jesus replied, “Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Luke 17:20-21, NIV).

A mustard seed is about the same size as the periods in a sentence. Jesus says it just takes that tiny, miniscule amount of faith to move a mountain. While it adds up in Jesus mind, I confess that I am confused by the visual mathematics. Mustard seed of faith = a mountain moved. What? We think our faith has to equal the mountain of the situation. God says it only takes a mustard seed to move the mountain. Don’t worry about the math. Grasp that mustard seed then stand back and watch God move the mountain. Then see your faith grow.

*Copyright 2008 Michelle Rocker