Mark 4:31
“It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:”
When I was young, most of the time I was the shortest in my class. You didn’t have to look hard in the class pictures to find me because I was normally the shortest one in the picture. My daughter seems to have followed in my footsteps, though she had no choice in the matter. Being the shorter person always brought about challenges of seeing what was going on up front, and it also brought a slight bit of jealousy towards the taller students. My father would often encourage me by saying, “Son, big things come in little packages.”
The verse above is a testament to that statement. God says that the mustard seed “is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:” The little seed becomes a big package when you look that it becomes “greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.” The little seed may start out small, but with God’s help it becomes the greatest of all herbs.
You may feel that you are a little package, but I would like to encourage you that in God’s hand you can become greater than you ever imagined. The little mustard seed can be an encouragement to every person who feels that they are overlooked. Several encouraging observations you can take from the mustard seed to help you in your life.
First, God never looks at you through the prism of man’s vision. Just because humans may perceive you as little doesn’t mean that God can’t use you. God never dwells on the beginning of someone’s life, but He always looks at what they will become. Let me encourage you to stop selling yourself short because of how you perceive your shortcomings, and look through the eyes of the LORD to see the potential He has placed inside of you.
Second, be patient while God grows you. The verse above says that the seed had to be “sown.” In other words, there was a growing period for the little mustard seed before it became the greatest herb under which the birds lodge. My friend, don’t become so impatient that you take on a martyr mentality. Too many people fall into Satan’s trap of thinking they can never become much because they don’t have the “connections” that others have. Be patient with yourself and God’s timing; in His timing you will become what He envisions you to be.
Third, become tomorrow’s you today. In other words, the mustard seed was going to become a plant to help others in the future, but the mustard seed in its seed form it’s still a medicinal herb that can help people. My friend, you may not be the grown plant that God envisions you to be, but you can still help people in your present stage. Too many Christians waste their present potential awaiting their potential from future growth. Don’t be the type of Christian who says that they will wait. You can start now helping others. The more you help others, the more you will grow. Don’t waste the present potential to help others in your present stage by doing nothing.
So you feel like you are a little package? The little package can become a big thing if you allow God to use you just like you are. Stop trying to become someone else and just be the you God made you to be. In God’s timing you will become the shadowing plant under which others can lodge.