About the Mustard Seed

About the Mustard Seed

The truth is like a ladder that is set down before our feet in such a way that we can see only the first rung. It is set down in quite ordinary circumstances as they arise in daily life. People’s fantasies remove the truth so far away that they see it only as a misty glory, as something nondescript. Wisdom, on the other hand, moves the truth so close to life’s ordinary struggles that you are almost unaware of it. The fact is that many people do not see it as the truth, because it appears as the Son of a carpenter from Nazareth, and He is usually overlooked. It approaches in perfect rest with­out the accompaniment of a lively atmosphere or a certain Sunday solemnity. It is what it is. People’s expectations are often of a mighty king whom they can receive with the proper ceremony, but the truth comes and takes away all human feelings of well-being, fantasies, and ceremonies, and makes the soul face stark realities which people usually call “ice-cold.” It comes with such simplicity that people, in their pride, say, “Of course,” and look right past it. They were expecting something extraordinary, and yet it came as “a matter of course.” Not many people take the trouble to find the first rung, for you have to look down before you can climb up. He who joyfully accepts the small “natural” step on the ladder of truth will quickly meet several such natural steps. These steps that are a “matter of course” are so simple and natural that people just to shrug their shoulders. The proud person becomes irritated because he is taught by a natural truth, even though he did not manage to find it on his own. But he who opens his heart to it will experience its power. Nothing meets with so much con­tempt as that which is lowly, but contempt is the mark of a fool.

The words of a wise man are also like a ladder of which you can see only the lowest rung. His words are firmly bound to the life that now is; they are put down in front of our feet so that we can climb up. Because his message begins in lowly places, in simplicity, it will always be despised by those who cherish exalted dreams. Yet he who keeps to the lowly places will always benefit from listening to the seemingly lowly beginning. He will be led from one rung to another as they become visible, and a higher rung becomes visible only after you have stepped on the lower rung. Each higher rung is the obvious truth that follows the lower rung. An acknowledgment of this truth is the way of liberty, the way of life, revealed in Christ Jesus.

Many people pray for wisdom and expect to receive it like a large bag that descends from heaven to be emptied into their hearts all at once. Wisdom never comes like that. It always comes as an obvious truth that is very near—in our mouth and in our heart—and it is revealed in the present moment. Jesus says, “Watch!” Yes, be watchful in the present moment, and you will lay hold of the truth that is before you; you will avoid falsehood and be­come grounded. The truth comes as a mustard seed that is smaller than all other seeds. The soil for the mustard seed is faith in the mustard seed. It is so small that one could say, “Who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The arm of the Lord is like a mustard seed—an obvious truth that sets us free. Who believes this message? The insignificant things of God are stronger than man! Nothing is as capable of germinating as God’s mustard seed. It grows in a watchful soul from one second to the next, from one truth to the next. It grows by acknowledging the whole truth; it is greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade. Mark. 4:31-32. A constant acknowledgment of the obvious truth that is before us, as God’s Spirit (the Spirit of wisdom and revelation) reveals it to us, is the living way of liberty from all foolishness. It leads us continuously forward by break­ing down all opposition (foolish­ness) in its way. The Spirit proceeds at the cost of the death of our flesh, through the veil, penetrating to the very source of the truth. The victory march goes inward into the sanctu­ary. Faith in the mustard seed is a power, a new and living way that has been consecrated; it is a life full of victory. He who believes in the mustard seed receives strength as the mustard seed; he also receives faith as a mustard seed. What is the faith of the mustard seed? It is unconditional obedience! It grows, driven by the power of life without asking why or where and without considering the difficulties. It is un­questioningly obedient to the power of life because it makes no allowance for doubt in this power. Have the faith of the mustard seed!

Paying heed to the mustard seed is accompanied by the greatest bless­ings. Each work is like a mustard seed; it begins with little things. Many people complain that they have so little—so little strength, so little wisdom. As truly as you have received something from God, it would be mocking Him to say that you have received nothing. Each one has received a mustard seed. It is smaller than all other seeds. Every­one has also received the strength to bear this seed; it is a work that is less than all other works. However, the proud do not see the lowly and small works because they do not shine in people’s eyes; they think it is too little to bring out of the house, too little to bear with them; it is just one word with which to refresh a weary soul! The many who, in their pride, do not want to work with a mustard seed always dream about something greater, and so they start by carrying out their own plans and ideas. But they always fail because they pursue their own devices. They go outside the works God had planned for them; they reach too far, therefore they fail. And so they often ask each other, “Don’t you ever fail?” And the answer is always “Yes.” Then those who are proud and vain com­fort each other with such words. No one needs to fail in God’s kingdom. No one who has a mustard seed fails, for this work is the least; it is smaller than all other seeds.

God lets a person walk away with his mustard seed in order to break him down. There are many people who are ashamed of it. The cross is in the mustard seed; you have to die to your greatness in order to lift it up. This is where you will also discover the offense of the cross, because it is an offense for a person to run off with a mustard seed that is smaller than all other seeds. This is where we will find the cause for many an unfruitful life—they fan­tasize about God doing great things through them, but in the meantime they let a thousand opportunities pass them by with the mustard seed never to return. And yet each mustard seed has sufficient strength to move mountains of difficulties. When a person thinks about doing great things, he also dreams about having a great faith, but possessing a mustard seed only requires a faith that is as small as the mustard seed, which is smaller than all other seeds. The sensible apostle Paul exhorts us to associate with the lowly. The person who looks too high will not find that which is low, and no one should think more highly than he ought to think, but think soberly; in other words, he should reflect on his works in the lowly places where he is actually sitting and where God, by His grace, prepares works for him so that he can walk in them.

The mustard seed nurtures faith and crushes unbelief. It reveals God’s power and the soul’s trust in God. Quite often God will send a soul out into the wilderness, into the desert to put down a mustard seed in places where we will find only high and bare fields—hard hearts and stubborn minds. Who wants to go with a mustard seed, which is smaller than all other seeds, into the desert to plant it there? This goes against all human reasoning! Who will believe this message? At best it will only be a root that grows out of dry ground! One could believe that one would have to have tremendous faith to go with a mustard seed onto a bare field; yet you need to believe only like a mustard seed. Do not dream of anything extraordinary, but go out with the faith that you have. You need to understand that it is a question of your obedience to God! “‘Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant . . . whom I have chosen [to go with a mustard seed to plant it in the desert]. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and [when it germinates] My blessings on your offspring [so that] they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses.’” Read Isaiah 44:1-4. When it grows, it will be taller than all herbs so that even the birds of the air will build their nests in the tree.

The one who possesses the de­spised mustard seed is truly rich! The way to the lowly places leads through a strait gate onto a narrow way. Folly is set in exalted positions, while the rich sit in a lowly place. Eccl. 10:6.

God acts in marvelous ways. He says, “I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wil­derness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cy­press tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.” Isa. 41:18-20.