The Faith of a Mustard Seed

When I was a young girl, I had a glass necklace with a tiny mustard seed in the center. Despite its size, that seed could grow into a great tree.

Matthew 13:31-32 reads: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”

My necklace was a reminder that faith, even that small, can produce great results. But how do we gain even a mustard seed size of faith?

Alma 30:44 tells us how to begin. We just have to look around us! Everything tells us there is a God. Everything testifies that he is—that He exists. “…all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.”

So, as we really look at the world around us, do we choose to believe in those things that have been created by a Supreme Creator and that therefore testify of Him, or do we discount what is before our very eyes?

In the winter of 1776, the Continental Army, led by George Washington fled from the British after the Battle of Long Island. The Continental Army had lost battle after battle of the Revolutionary War, had been chased across New Jersey and had barely escaped across the Delaware River to the Pennsylvania side. Generals Howe and Cornwallis decided to stop their pursuit and go into winter quarters in New York City.

Washington, in order to cross the Delaware River and stay safely on the other side, had gathered up or destroyed all the boats along the Delaware River, but Cornwallis knew he only had to wait for the river to freeze to be able to simply march his troops across and defeat this army of fools and farmers. He held them in contempt.

Washington in the meantime was in a desperate situation. A third of his men had dysentery. Many had no weapons or even shoes. And worst of all, most enlistments were due to expire Dec. 31st. There would be no army. So, Washington decided to attack the mercenary Hessian troops, the most feared troops in Europe, at Trenton on Christmas Day.

Cornwallis had returned to New York City thinking any danger had passed. He had at least three spies send him notes that Washington was planning an attack on Trenton. Some of those notes were in his pocket. In fact, even Colonel Rall, commander of the Hessian troops, had been notified of an impending attack. The river was clogged with ice and there was a blizzard. Cornwallis simply didn’t believe, in spite of all of the evidence from his spies, that Washington was capable of attacking Trenton. Cornwallis disregarded the truth and changed history.

There are many examples in history in which battles were won or lost because of what individuals chose to believe. Do we disregard the truth, or do we choose to look around and see that a creation must indeed have a creator? Do we choose to have faith in that God that created us? What we choose to believe is crucially important. It changes history and it can change our history.

Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch “pleased God” and goes on to say: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

I know that our Heavenly Father is –that He exists. The universe testifies of a Supreme Creator. We can choose to believe it, or not. He has given us that choice. I know that Heavenly Father sent his Son, even Jesus Christ, to come to earth to ransom us and give us life. I know that our Heavenly Father is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. All of that knowledge had its beginning in a little mustard seed; a small little kernel of faith. I hope that, like me, you can look around you and choose to believe. I hope that, like me, you can exercise a particle of faith, that you can choose to have faith in Jesus Christ, even the very Son of the Father. It will make all the difference.

Virginia (Ginger) Pettijohn is a retired US History and Civics Teacher which she taught at Wasilla Middle School for 32 years. She and her husband were both born in Alaska and have 5 children and 14 grandchildren. They are all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.