Mustard Seed Faith

Verse of the day: Judges 4:8, And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

If we read this statement alone, we would get the impression that Barak had no faith in God to deliver Sisera into his hands. However, based on New Testament Scriptures and the rest of the story here in this chapter, Barak was actually a man of faith. As a matter of fact, he had enough faith to be mentioned by God in the “hall of faith”, Hebrews 11. When I read this portion of Scripture it reminded me of Mark 9, where a man desired healing for his son, but Jesus’ disciples could not heal him. Jesus’ response to this man’s request, and his response to Jesus, was this in verse 23-24, “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” In Matthew 17, this same encounter is recounted, but Matthew added this in verse 20 as Jesus spoke to His disciples about their inability to heal the man’s son, “So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’” Barak experienced both loss and victory in his decision to refuse to go out to battle without Deborah’s presence. He seemed to trust more in Deborah’s presence than God’s invisible presence, which would have required more faith. His loss was that the glory for the victory over Sisera went to someone else. However, his little faith put him face to face with an enemy that should have been able to defeat him, but under God’s protection, and the little faith he demonstrated in facing that enemy, he earned himself a place in God’s “hall of faith”. Hebrews 11:32-34 says this, “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Barak’s tiny faith gave him the courage to face an enemy with 900 chariots of iron, with swords alone. However, the greatest praise goes not to Barak, but to the Lord who responded to even the tiniest amount of faith, as we read in verses 14 and 15, “Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?’ So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15 And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot.” What is God calling us to do that will require faith? The fact of the matter is that we will have those moments when our faith will fluctuate. We may find ourselves in the same place that John the Baptist found himself when he sent his disciples to question Jesus and ask Him if He was the One Israel was waiting for (Matthew 11:2-3). God can do great things in us, and through us, even with faith as small as a mustard seed. Let us go forward today, allowing God to move mountains in our life, for with Jesus little is much.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).