2003-01-16 - A Small Seed
Mat 17:20 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. (NASB)
An alarm went off in one of the computers in the data center yesterday. The
warning indicated that one of the four cooling fans had stopped working.
The components in the system run very hot so there was some concern. A little
seven dollar fan had placed a few thousand dollars of data processing hardware
in jeopardy.
When we were able to open the chasis we discovered that a sunflower seed
was stuck between a blade of the fan and the fan housing. A seed from a one
dollar snack bag had stopped a seven dollar fan and interrupted the service
of a few thousand dollars of hardware and three System Administrators.
It reminded me of the power Jesus spoke of the power of very small faith.
We are told we can move mountains with that small faith. Are we talking about
moving literal mountains? Perhaps. But the mountains that prevent people
from seeing the love of God for them through our lives are certainly in mind.
Shattering someone's preconceived notions of how a Christian will react to
a situation can move mountains. Accepting people where they are can be a
real door opener. The first Christians lived in a world that could barely
comprehend the resurrection let alone that God had put on human flesh and
walked among us. Slavery was a common thing. Women had so few rights as to
be nearly slaves in many respects. The principles of Christianity flew in
the face of these ideas and chose to displace them not by force, but in the
same way water wears a boulder to sand. The same way our small faith demonstrated
in our words and actions can move mountains of fear, uncertainty and disbelief.
Lord Jesus - please help us demonstrate Your care for
this lost and dying world with the consistent pressure of water through many
small acts that breakdown the boulders of misperception and misunderstanding.
Amen.
Grace & Peace,
Mike
jmhoskins@gmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org |