Matthew 17:14-21
This story is not about Jesus doing something the disciples could not do, but about what they could have done, but didn't. Jesus came along and cast out the demon they couldn't get rid of, but Jesus doesn't tell them it was from lack of ability when they asked him why they couldn't do it. Jesus tells them their faith was too small. It was not their imperfections or incapacities, but their miniscule belief in what God can do. And more than that, what God can do through them. Their reality is not big enough. Their reality fails to take into account the infinite power of God that, because of His love, He wants to display to the world through us. Jesus doesn't stop with a chastisement, but tries to enlighten them and enlargen their view of the world.
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
These are not idle words. They're an invitation, an urging, to see a bigger God. To understand that God is active - living, moving, breathing in this world and that He wants to live, move, and breathe in us, and through us, into the world. I have always dreamt too small. I often fail to believe not that God can do, but that God can do through me, that God will do through me. Sometimes it's just hard for me to believe that through me God wants to do the impossible. He wants to perform the supernatural in ways that are like the movement of mountains. He wants not only to perform the daunting task of building my character and working through me to build others, but He wants to cast out demons through me, He wants to heal people through me, and if I have the faith, all is possible. Is your world big enough? Is your view of God large enough? Do you believe?
A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
- Proverbs 11:25
We live in a world that hoards. It's the richest time in the history of the world, and what do we have? Not an end to world hunger (although that is feasible with the resources available), but more amenities, more toys, more crap. Our world keeps what it has. People have a very difficult time giving things away they think they have a right to. It's our money, our time, our resources, our friends, our energy, our stuff. We like to keep it that way. We get upset when that is not the case. We cling so strongly to that which belongs to us and it keeps us so chained. We are not refreshed, we are uptight, we are nervous about losing some of what we have. It's a life where we have a ton, but it doesn't feel like prosperity. It can't, we're putting our treasure in the wrong place. Real prosperity comes when we give generously so often that it becomes a descriptor that applies to how we interact with the world all the time. Refreshment comes when we refresh others. If we live in a way where we are seeking to refresh others with all that we have (more than just finances), it changes the way we see things. We begin to see just how worthless it is to cling tightly to and not want to give up what we have. As we release our hold on ownership, it releases its hold on us and finally free from that, refreshment comes and we're opened up to live in the prosperity God has for us.
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