Insights

Reverend Dr. William H. Curtis

The apostles said to the LORD, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. "Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

Luke 17:5-10 NIV

The disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Increase our faith!” Jesus’ response to them is refreshing, striking, and remarkable. He tells them that they don’t need more faith—there’s no such thing as more or less faith. Any presence of faith is enough faith.

This may be a stark contrast to what we have been taught over the years, but Christ’s message here is clear. The evidence of faith is enough to make incredible shifts in a person’s life. Any faith at all can create wonders for the one who possesses it.

Jesus says that our faith can be as small as a mustard seed, the smallest known seed to the Israelites. But that seed has the power to grow into one of the strongest trees, with deep, strong root structures that would allow it to weather any storm.

Jesus’ point is clear: We have enough faith living in us to do the impossible. The intimidation that we feel, the weight of our responsibilities, the depth of our hurts, or the negativity in our lives could be because of our lack of confidence in our current-sized faith. Whatever we’re afraid to go after or whatever we’re afraid to let go of is only restricted by one decision: to trust in our current faith.

The confidence that we have in God, at whatever stage of our walk with the Lord, is enough to heal and change our lives. We don’t have to stay in places of pain or fear. We can choose to take our small faith and decide that today is the day that we will no longer walk in darkness. God can take our small faith and make it into the solutions that we need in our lives.

We have enough faith in us to get through the circumstances in our lives. We don’t need to wait for more confidence in Jesus or more faith in God. We need to make the decision to go forward with whatever measure of faith that we have right now.