You know that deal about having faith the size of a mustard seed Jesus talks about? It's somewhere in the Bible. Probably towards the back someplace. Anyway…Jesus basically says someone who has the tiniest bit of faith, faith no bigger than a mustard seed, can move mountains. In short, something super tiny can be super powerful.
You probably know what I'm talking about. People in Christian circles reference this ALL THE TIME. Ok, so we're on the same page then? Great. Here's where God took this and blew my mind.
What if this same concept (something tiny having a profoundly huge impact) applied to crappy things, like bitterness, or jealousy, or anger? What if the tiniest bit of bitterness, as tiny as a mustard seed, could also be powerful enough to move mountains. I mean, that's a pretty destructive force right?
We talk about how a little bit of something good can really be something hugely impactful. And it's encouraging, and true, and fastastically wonderful. But as God is bringing me through a season of revelation (and healing and growth) about my heart, my attitude, my identity, and my thought patterns, He is showing me how the negativity I still carry can be powerful enough to move mountains. How being encouraged in the good stuff is a good thing, and necessary, but I also need to be aware of the destructive power that small, negative things in my life carry.
And that takes me to a whole new place of wanting to be rid of that junk. I don't want to be someone who is desctructive. I want to promote restoration. And if even the tiniest bit of bitterness in my heart, bitterness that's barely recognizable, bitterness that's easy to throw into the category of "no one's perfect, and it isn't a HUGE deal", bitterness that may be so well disguised I don't even recognize it, even if that kind of bitterness is present, it can be vastly destructive to those in my life, including me.
And that revelation caught me off guard. Because honestly, some of that is present in me. (You may be surprised to discover I'm a work in progress. I know…I thought I had it all together too.) And I don't think I really acknowledged that junk for the influence it had on my life, and the lives of those around me.
Think about it. A little goes a long way. And it go both ways.
