The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5-6.
Having the faith of a mustard seed means that we would have very little faith as the mustard seed is a very small seed. It also means that there is a lot of room for a person to also have the seeds of doubt.
I think about some of the projects that would not have happened if the people making the decisions had enough doubts and excuses not to go ahead and try a new project. Projects such as the Sheffield Community Church – where they had a church building that was no longer being worshipped in and had to make decisions like sell or find a use for it. The people of Sheffield chose to find a use for the building and today it has a number of groups meeting there every day of the week. Music on the Veranda in Evandale may not have happened if the people of Evandale just accepted that a Christmas Carol service was not going to happen due to covid.
Yet I am sure that we can all think of projects where there was many doubts and excuses not to start a project. Sometimes the doubts and excuses are valid – God may not have been wanting that project to work at that time. However I am also sure that there are projects that God wanted to happen and they did not.
I will finish with verses for two hymns that you may or may not know:
- Fear and doubt and habit must not hold us back;
God gives hope, and insight, and the strength we lack. God gives us a future – E. J. Smith 1960 – TIS 687
- Faith will not grow from words alone,
From proofs provided, scripture known;
Our faith must feel its way about,
And live with question-marks and doubt. Faith will not grow from words alone – E. J. Smithn1956 – TIS 691
Shirley Bowers
Longford Uniting Church