Mustard Seeds

While at Yale, I loved the creative daily chapel services in Marquand Chapel. On one fall day in 2018, there was a collection of small glass containers on a table right inside the chapel, with a sign that said “take one.” I soon learned that the tiny objects inside were mustard seeds. Of course I had heard about Jesus’s musings on these tiny seeds. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus mentions mustard seeds twice:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32, NRSV)

“For truly I tell 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 for you” (Matthew 17:20-21, NRSV).

I’m sure there was a beautiful sermon that day in chapel about how even tiny faith can be life-changing. I don’t remember it. The only reason I remember that day is because I slipped the container into my purse and carried it with me. But at some point, the container opened and these tiny seed spilled everywhere. To this day, I still find mustard seeds in my purse, my journals, my books, and other mysterious places! God has a good sense of humor.

I constantly need the reminder that the size of my faith doesn’t matter–even a mustard seed amount will do. I pray that you find your “mustard seed moments” where God is showing up in your life to remind you of who you are and who you’re becoming.

Text copyright © 2023 Grace Woodward. All rights reserved.