If faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, it is understandable that most Christians become discouraged. If such grand outcomes require such small input yet we don't experience them, then it stands to reason that we must be pathetic spiritual weaklings lacking even a small amount of faith. This doubt and discouragement erodes our faith even further and we become even less likely to step out and trust God. But what if we're simply misreading Jesus' meaning and misapplying biblical principles? A parable Jesus told before the one in question may be the key to unlocking your faith's potential and breaking through the cycle of doubt and discouragement.
Faith Isn't Created, It Is Cultivated
Many people conceptualize faith as a nearly limitless outside force to be tapped into and utilized like a Jedi from Star Wars. Others view it as lamp oil that has been portioned to each individual by God rather unequally. If the intended result is ever not achieved, then the former will try to focus harder while the latter will wish for a different lot in life. But Jesus likens faith to a seed, not "the force" or allotments as He did with the parable of the talents. Not only this, but Jesus told another parable prior to the one about moving mountains, using the same analogy of a mustard seed. So to understand how mustard seed faith can move mountains, we must understand mustard seeds.
He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES." -Mat 13:31-32 (NASB, unless otherwise noted)
And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. -Mat 17:20
Mustard seeds are small, but once planted, they grow into very large plants. A seed, when planted begins to grow by taking root and this first proto-root is called the radicle. In other words, in order grow up, a plant must first grow down. But mustard plants don't grow into cedar trees. We often imagine a giant tree when we hear this parable, but in reality, the standout feature of the Black Mustard plant Jesus was referring to isn't its height, but its breadth. The Black Mustard plant grows like a weed and is considered invasive—it spreads out and takes over any area given to it. In fact, it actually secretes a chemical which inhibits other plants from growing in its soil. While the realities of the Black Mustard plant may not match the typical pictures associated with this parable, the actual characteristics of this remarkable plant are important to discuss in relation to faith.
The point that Jesus is making here is that faith, when planted and cultivated, isn't just a plant in your garden—it actually takes over your garden. It kills off weeds, supplants prior crops, and grows so thick that nothing else can take root. This analogy however doesn't mean that growth is assured or passive—other passages clearly indicate that the renewing of the mind, overcoming the flesh, and removing doubt is a constant battle which requires training, discipline and accountability. But understanding the nature of the mustard plant versus a Cedar does allude to the fact that faith is meant to be all-consuming rather than just imposing or impressive.
It may be helpful to be aware of the Old Testament passage which Jesus was drawing from and quoting in His teaching.
Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it." -Eze 17:22-24
The context Jesus was pulling from here in Ezekiel again invokes horticulture, but this reference is using the example of a Cedar rather than mustard. The subject of this passage is the nation of Israel, but once again we see the process of growth—from infancy to maturity. Note that how this process is accomplished is God speaks (prophesies) and then vows to fulfill His word. This principle is vitally important to understand.
Faith Operates Through Understanding
As you are a triune being, consisting of a spirit, soul and body, the process of your salvation is likewise three-fold. The first phase, known as justification among theologians, is the salvation of your spirit. This phase is quite instant as when you believe in Christ, He renews or replaces your dead spirit of man with the Spirit of the living God. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is typically what we use as the metric to determine is someone is "saved" or not. However this is merely phase one in the salvation process and the next phase is neither easy nor instant.
Phase two is what theologians call sanctification—the lifelong process of discipleship. While your spirit man was instantly renewed, your soul—your mind, will and emotions—is a creature of habit which requires substantial conscious effort to reform.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. -Rom 12:2
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ... -2Co 10:5
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. -Eph 4:7-8
Faith is cultivated and grown as a result of understanding. It takes root in the soul and is cultivated in our mind. It may sound odd that faith is a product of the mind rather than the spirit, but your spirit is always full of faith as it is the Spirit of the Living God living inside you and God doesn't doubt Himself. Therefore it is indeed the soul where the cultivation of faith must take place. But being a product of the mind does not mean it is purely an intellectual affair or that more intellectual people have a greater capacity for faith. Often the opposite is true and intellectuals actually struggle with the concept of faith as much as they do the fruit of it. Scripture talks about "child-like faith," which is not ignorant, naive or blind, but it is simple, dependent, and uncomplicated—often eluding those who are proficient in the art of rationalization.
Now faith produces salvation, but differently in sanctification than in justification. Faith in Christ, or justification, cannot take place without knowledge of Christ. A lost person must first hear and understand the Gospel message before they can respond to it through faith (Rom 10:14). Faith functions much the same in the sanctification phase—as we gain understanding and our mind aligns with truth, we can then respond to situations and circumstances through faith. With just the knowledge of Christ, we have enough faith to transform our spirit man, but as we grow our faith, it begins to transform our soul man. As we continue to grow our faith, it becomes so large of a plant that it actually crosses over the boundaries of our gardens and begins to transform the landscape and world around us. The more we feed it, the larger it grows and the bigger impact it has on people, situations, institutions, and high places in the world we dwell in. Think of it as concentric circles which start with our spirit, then our soul, then our immediate environment and eventually, even distant environments. Ultimately faith transforms our body as well—the third and final phase of salvation is the receiving of our new eternal bodies after the resurrection, what theologians call glorification. But what began as internal change, grows into something which produces external change.
Understanding Who God Is
The first step of faith of course comes through understanding the character and nature of God through Jesus Christ. But even after we become believers, volumes could be filled of what we don't know or understand of God's identity. As we grow in our walk with the Lord, we begin to see Him more clearly, understand who He is and therefore our faith grows. One of the most stark examples of this effect can be seen in Job chapters 38-42. Job had been complaining to God about his ordeal up to that point, but chapter 38 is a pivotal moment as God responds—and it isn't all warm and fuzzy. These chapters are absolutely amazing in their content and power, so I highly recommend reading them in full, but for the sake of brevity, I'll summarize the shift in Job's faith from a few key passages. Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'? Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, And the uplifted arm is broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, That you may take it to its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home? You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great!" -Job 38:1-21 (emphasis added)
Then Job answered the LORD and said, "I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted... "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes." -Job 42:1-2, 5-6
Job had lost everything and even his wife implored him to just curse God and die. But while Job remained righteous, he began to doubt God near the end. Rather than sympathy and a shoulder to cry on, God responds to Job's questioning with wit and sarcasm (which is near and dear to my heart), really putting Job in his place. God goes on for several chapters just reminding Job of how unequaled He is in power. Job gets beat over the head with a two-by-four of knowledge of who God is, and the result is both immediate repentance and a restoration of faith. Job gains an understanding of who God is and it has a dramatic impact on his faith and attitude. Chapter 42 ends by God then restoring all that had been taken from Job and then some—Job's faith was rewarded.
The reason our faith increases with an understanding of who God is, is because that revelation puts our circumstances into proper perspective. Our problems look insurmountable until we understand who our Father is, then suddenly faith rushes in as we stop focusing on the problem and start looking to the One who holds all the solutions. Simply put, doubt increases when our eyes are on the world, but faith increases when our eyes are on the creator of heaven and earth.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. -Eph 3:14-21
Understanding What God Has Done
Like Job, it can be difficult for us to have faith based on God's identity alone. Understanding His power is more than simply acknowledging His omnipotence, but actually remembering it in action. When doubt and fear creep in today, there are few better ways to squash it than to remind yourself of God's faithfulness and power yesterday. Faith is not blind, it actually draws from past experiences and is grounded in empirical evidence. But we often forget what God has done in the past—amnesia seems to be a primary side-effect of doubt and fear. Joshua knew this all too well and so he laid out a plan to thwart such forgetfulness.
Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'" So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. "Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. -Jos 4:1-9
Stones of remembrance are a biblical principle that help us to always be mindful of what God has done. While stacking stones or building memorials may not be the most practical strategy in every situation, the principle is important—keep records of God's faithfulness in your life. This can be taking a picture, writing in a journal, or keeping a memento from that event. If you're terrible at keeping records, you're not without hope however—simply ask God to remind you. The Holy Spirit is quite adept at speaking and reminding us. But on top of what God has done for us personally, there is also a long list of things He has done for us corporately and what He has done for others. This is why sharing testimonies is so important in the Christian walk, because it challenges and encourages others' faith as well.
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." -Rev 12:11
There are a couple words in Hebrew which really bring meaning and understanding to the concept of building one's faith through remembrance, and those are the words hagah and siyach. In the NASB translation, these words are rendered as meditate and muse respectively, but hagah literally means to murmur or mutter, while siyach literally means to have a conversation with oneself. This concept of speaking truth to, or over oneself is critical in growing faith and one which David utilized throughout the Psalms.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted... I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds... Your way was in the sea And Your paths in the mighty waters, And Your footprints may not be known. You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron. -Psa 77:6,12, 19-20
In these few verses in Psalm 77, we see the problem, the prescribed solution, and the resolution. David begins by acknowledging that his faith is lacking and his soul is troubled, but he then prescribes the antidote—to meditate and muse on God's deeds. The rest of the chapter then is David doing just that, by telling the stories of old and reminding himself of God's power and faithfulness. Remembrance is a powerful fertilizer for our seed—it kills doubt and produces belief and faith.
So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. -Joh 2:22
Understanding What God Wants to Do
As faith is a verb, it's something we do rather than something we have, which is why faith without works is dead (Jas 2:17). This uncomfortable call to action requires risk, but again, faith is not blind. Jesus didn't go around working miracles sporadically, He was actually quite focused and intentional about His work. There is another key in growing our faith in that reality however.
Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel." -Joh 5:19-20
Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. In other words, He had confidence (faith) that God would work a miracle not because Jesus asked the Father to follow His lead, but because Jesus was walking in obedience to what the Father wanted to do. We get this simple truth backward so often in Christianity as we ask and seek for God to do our will rather than transforming our minds and conforming our habits and behaviors to that of His. This cart-before-the-horse strategy is a sure-fire way to kill your faith as it generally doesn't produce much success and therefore produces discouragement instead.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. -Rom 10:17
While this famous passage is obviously speaking about faith which leads to belief in Christ, remember that salvation is a three step process—so this principle also pertains to sanctification as well as justification. While people cannot have faith in Christ before knowing of Christ, they also cannot work in miracles without knowing of God's desire to do so. The reality of Jesus' ministry was that He didn't heal every sick person He came across, He didn't speak a word of knowledge to every sinner who came across His path, and He didn't raise every person from the grave who died. Why? The answer is quite simple—it wasn't the Father's will.
That seems harsh and incongruent with the character of God, but the reality is that due to the consequences of sin, sickness, disease, darkness, chaos, and death are the default—the law of the current world. It's not that God doesn't want to heal everyone, save everyone and give life to everyone, it's that they are under the power of darkness, are blinded to truth, and have no faith to overcome the legal claim Satan has on their lives. But there are specific people, in specific situations, at specific points in their journeys where God has the chance to break through to them—and if we are attuned to His spirit and are aware of those moments in time, we are able to partner with Him to bring light into darkness and life into death as He invites us (and commands us) to be His hands and feet on this earth.
If we understand this reality, then our faith will grow radically as we align ourselves with the will of God. It's not that we must work up enough faith to step out and pray for someone, hoping that God will hear our prayer and will be move enough by our words and faith to act, but rather that we hear the words of our Father and listen to Him regularly enough that when He highlights someone or something in our path, that we are moved in faith to act on His behalf. Faith comes much easier when we're stepping out because God told us to do something rather than we want to do something. The latter may not be the will of God, but the former is by default. The latter will be extremely hit-and-miss in success, the former will be much more consistent and therefore will produce more results, more fruit, and therefore more faith for tomorrow.
Yesterday's Radical Faith is Today's Radicle Faith
Growing faith means that nothing ever becomes easy, safe, or mundane—to grow requires more resources or resistance. For plants, growing larger requires more roots, more water, more minerals and more photosynthesis today than was required yesterday. For muscles, growth requires more resistance today than was required yesterday. This principle is uncomfortable and highly inconvenient, but crucial. God doesn't want you to plateau, He wants you to grow—so what stretched you yesterday will seem easy compared to what God is asking of you today. That's why doubt can always creep back in and why understanding who God is and what He has done is a spiritual discipline—the practice of hagah and siyach will always be necessary. So next let's outline some practical steps in growing your faith and moving from seed to shrubbery.
Pray & Fast
As Christians we must develop a lifestyle of seeking the Father's will in our lives and listening for His guidance, direction and voice. Prayer is as much about listening as it is about speaking and fasting regularly helps as the design and purpose of fasting is to align your soul with the Spirit of God (see the article "The Inner Man"). As we begin to listen, watch and be aware of what God wants to do, we will then have the opportunity to join and partner with Him (Amo 3:7). If hearing God's voice is something you struggle with or haven't experienced, diligently seek His spoken word as you step out and obey His written word. Also remember that prayer itself can also be a humble request for faith. God wants to remove the blockages which hinder the spirit from influencing the soul. Sometimes ye have not because ye ask not.
And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." -Mar 9:23-24
Meditate & Muse
Learn to murmur, mutter, meditate, ponder, muse, and converse with oneself. Remind yourself of God's faithfulness, His power, His might, His deeds, His character, His goodness, and His nature. Share your testimonies with others and listen to theirs often. Set up stones of remembrance in your life to ensure that you will never forget what God has done and read scripture regularly to remind yourself of what He has done throughout history. Eastern meditation is the process of emptying your mind and practicing silence—the opposite of biblical meditation which is the process of filling your mind and speaking aloud. Think, remember, process, recall, speak, and encourage.
Exercise & Act
Faith is spelled R-I-S-K. You have to step out and faith (read as a verb). Without doing faith you can have no faith. It's slow and steady growth that eventually produces a plant which can overtake a garden, break through concrete, or even move a mountain. Don't despise the day of small beginnings—small acts of faith today are critical in being able to walk in bigger acts of faith tomorrow. You can't expect faith for major financial breakthroughs if you haven't even walked in faith and obedience in tithing yet. Becoming a spiritual giant doesn't happen overnight—great faith takes time. Doubt however is immediate.
Apprentice & Emulate
It takes a Moses to produce a Joshua, an Elijah to produce an Elisha, a Jesus to produce the disciples, and an Obi-Wan to produce a Luke. Christianity is not a program which produces qualification but rather relationships which produce experience. To become a master, you must first be a student—not of an institution, but of a person. Find someone who inspires you, who can challenge you and who can speak into your life—including correcting and rebuking you. Learn from them. Emulate them. Submit to them. This is the biblical model for discipleship. The closer the relationship and the more time spent with them, the faster your growth with be. The disciples went from zeros to heroes (well, most of them...) in about three years because they followed Jesus everywhere in that time. Lacking the intensity and intimacy of apprenticeship, expect a much longer journey and/or inferior results.
Rinse & Repeat
Practice makes perfect and growth requires time and patience... and failure—there will be lots of failure. But scripture teaches us that if at first you don't succeed, die, die again. Self, meet cross—the discipline of death is important to embrace. But we also build upon our successes and use them to encourage us to take the next insane-sounding step that God is asking of us. When you string enough of those together, you end up a hero of the faith with a testimony that would make Jesus proud and Paul envious. But the reality is, everyone wants faith, but no one wants to be in situations which require it. We want to see the waters part, but we don't want to be put in a situation where our backs are up against the sea with mountains to either side and the army of Egypt bearing down on us. So count the cost and be careful what you wish for!
The Gift of Faith
There is of course one final aspect of faith as outlined in scripture which needs to be addressed and that is the gift of faith. As one of the nine spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament, it should not be confused with the hard-worked-for variety that we have discussed at length here. Faith is faith, but the gift of faith is a supernatural injection of faith by the Holy Spirit to accomplish something that you wouldn't normally have enough faith to see come to pass. Like a surge of adrenaline which temporarily increases reaction time, strength and awareness, the gift of faith is a temporary function of the Holy Spirit upon someone's life. While your base-level faith is fairly consistent, the gift of faith is a boost which is based on the will of God.
When Jesus left this earth He promised to send "the helper" and on the day of Pentecost the disciples received what is commonly known as the "baptism of the Holy Spirit," or became "spirit filled." Neither of these phrases are used in scripture (though are alluded to in Mat 3:11 and Luk 3:16), but the anointing of the Holy Spirit they experienced in the upper room is both distinct from their "salvation moment" as well as consistent with Old Testament examples. The disciples became believers, or experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in John chapter 20 prior to Jesus' ascension. But despite this, Christ instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them before they left Jerusalem and spread the Gospel.
So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." -Joh 20:21-22
"And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." -Luk 24:49
Here in John we see the first moment in history when the Spirit of God dwelled within a human as Jesus mirrors the creation account of Adam by breathing on them, but the Old Testament was full of examples of the Holy Spirit coming upon a human, giving them great power and authority. Samson is but one example—his strength was not natural, but supernatural and prior to each time he killed lions or enemies, the text specifically says "the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily..." Likewise the Spirit of God came upon prophets, priests and kings in the Old Testament to empower them for specific tasks or roles, so what the disciples experienced in the upper room was not new or unique, but rather an established biblical paradigm. Just about every one of the nine spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament can be found to have an example established in the Old Testament—even the most controversial of the nine, the gift of tongues. What was utterly new and unprecedented was Jesus breathing on the disciples and offering the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
So while the gift of faith is well established in scripture and is separate from your base-line amount of faith, both are still faith and operate to produce the same effect or outcome. What is equally important in understanding the gift of faith, as well as the other eight, is that the Holy Spirit was the gift and He can work and manifest in any way He so desires through us. So anyone has access to the gift of faith, it is not reserved for special or select people. If you are a "spirit filled" believer or have received the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit as the disciples did, then operating in the gift of faith is just as possible as operating in the gift of healing or miracles. That is to say, you will most likely experience it in your life, but probably not every day. The only one of the nine that there is ample evidence of being able to experience every moment of every day is tongues as a prayer language. The reason being, we know from scripture that God doesn't heal everyone or do miracles in every situation, but He does intercede on our behalf and speak 24/7. So we can open our mouths and partner with Him in that prayer at any time—as Paul instructed, pray without ceasing.
Conclusion
So faith without works is dead as seeds without cultivation produce no life. A little radicle of faith doesn't necessarily move mountains today, but given the proper time and growth, a small seed can grow into an enormous plant which can change the landscape of your life and even lives, institutions, cultures, and kingdoms around you. The question is, are you stepping out in faith and pushing yourself to grow? Are you taking what seemed like radical faith yesterday to push you to even greater faith today? Or are you stuck with a radicle which cannot grow into full maturity because you're waiting for a full-grown plant to appear in your life without the difficult process of growth? Like physical fitness, spiritual fitness requires a lot of hard work and there are no shortcuts. To go from radicle to radical, be prepared to endure a long series of situations and circumstances which will bring you to the brink and back, over and over. But as we overcome doubt and fear each time and encourage our faith as we step out in it, we will see God move in incredible ways. It won't be comfortable and it won't be convenient, but a life lived in this manner will produce supernatural experiences. Experiences produce testimonies, testimonies produce faith, and faith produces more faith, both in you and other radicles. Faith is indeed like a mustard seed—the more it grows, the more that growth accelerates, choking out the weeds of fear and doubt until it alone dominates the garden of your life. It is an invasive species of the greatest kind.