A ‘Happy Face’ at the Local Car Wash
Words by Greg Tinker
"I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move." - The words of Jesus, Matthew 17:20, NLT.
A mustard seed. A very small thing. But a real thing.
A mustard seed is not wishful thinking. It is not intellectual posturing. It is not religious debate or apologetic wrangling. It is not passive.
A mustard seed is truth. It is practical. It contains life. It produces a harvest.
It provides nourishment. It is active.
Too often, when reciting these words of Jesus, we focus on "moving the mountain" rather than planting the mustard seed. We see the BIG thing—the mountain—and we miss the small thing: the mustard seed. In Jesus' statement, the seed comes first. No mustard seed planted, no mountain moved.
We all know that unless a seed is buried in the soil, it cannot grow. Planting is an active thing, a practical thing, a thing done with the "faith" (confidence) to believe that what is placed in the ground will, over time, under the right conditions, grow into something much, much larger than the tiny "birth" seed.
What does that look like in everyday life?
This: His name is Chris. He is a manager at a local automated car wash and a former student of mine. I had the privilege of teaching him some years ago. I hadn't seen Chris in a while, but I'm certainly thankful that I saw him on a recent Saturday afternoon.
Why? Because Chris changed the entire complexion of my day by "planting a mustard seed" on the windshield of my vehicle.
You see, I'd had a difficult 24 hours because of some negative personal "news" I received, and I was disturbed in my spirit. My sleep was restless, and my appetite was affected, as was my thinking.
I was wrestling with this news as I pulled into the car wash and exchanged a brief "hello" with Chris.
It was shortly after the greeting that he planted the mustard seed. Just as I was steering into the tunnel for the wash, Chris sprayed the customary foam on the windshield and then did the unexpected—he drew a happy face in the foam!
A happy face. A mustard seed of love and joy.
An emblem of faith that moved a mountain of doubt, hurt, and unsettledness from my soul and caused me to shout praises of gratitude to God for giving me a bright ray of sunshine on a very cloudy day.
Chris didn't have to plant that mustard seed on my windshield, but he did! Simple, quick, and easy. It didn't cost him anything, but it paid huge dividends in my heart!
The point: draw the happy face; plant the mustard seed! You never know what mountain you may help to move. Yes, it's a very small thing but it has the potential to produce a great, joyful harvest in the soul of someone who desperately needs it!
God gives us a fresh supply of mustard seeds each day! Now, let's get out there and plant them—and watch the mountains move!
A fellow beggar along the Way,
Greg