When Jesus came down from the mountain, a desperate father knelt before Him and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son. He suffers terribly. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” Jesus healed the boy instantly, and later told His disciples, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:14–21)
That story came alive for us this past year.
For the last two years, I’ve run the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon. The race begins at the memorial where 168 lives were lost in the 1995 bombing. Just across the street stands a statue of Jesus, turned away and weeping. Every time I see it, I’m reminded: Jesus Himself wept. He knows our pain.
This has been a year of both pain and learning. Kathy had surgery in December, and then another in May to reconstruct her right hand from the damage of rheumatoid arthritis. What doctors called a “six-week recovery” has stretched into many months of ups and downs. There have been braces, setbacks, and the weariness that comes with repeated procedures.
But in the middle of it all, God whispered to Kathy’s heart: “All you need is mustard seed faith.” Not a promise of instant healing. Not the guarantee of only good days. Simply the assurance that a tiny seed of faith is enough.
At first, that sounded easy—until the hard days came. Because mustard seed faith isn’t just “barely enough.” A seed is meant to grow. And growth requires something more.
So what makes mustard seed faith grow?
It feeds on Scripture, on remembering God’s faithfulness, on prayer, and on the encouragement of others. But sometimes—maybe more often than we’d like—faith grows through tears.
One day Kathy asked me, through tears, “Why do I cry when God said I only need mustard seed faith?” And I heard myself reply, “Because for faith to grow, it has to be watered by our tears.”
Our tears remind us we are not in control. Healing comes slowly. Dreams and plans sit on hold. And while God is in control, we often wish He would move faster. It’s frustrating. It’s humbling. It’s soul work. So we weep.
But those tears are not wasted. They water the seed of faith. And in God’s timing, that seed will grow into something strong, fruitful, and unshakable.
