When Jesus described faith to his disciples, He used examples like mustard seeds and making bread. In Matthew 13:33, He said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a women took and mixed into three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” (BSB)
Is the Kingdom of God like bread? Not quite, but it is akin to the process of making bread. You start by combining the ingredients, kneading the dough, and letting it rest. That resting part — it’s an important part of the process. That’s when everything starts working together in ways you can’t see. Without it, you won’t end up with bread.
Do you think the woman in Matthew 13 understood all the chemical reactions that caused the dough to rise? No, of course not. She didn’t need to know what was happening in the background. She had faith in her actions—or faith in the process. She knew if she followed the steps that were given to her, she would have enough bread for today and tomorrow and even a loaf to share.
Mustard Seed Faith
Jesus didn’t just use bread to explain faith; He also used seeds. Tiny beginnings that grow into powerful results.
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the Lord answered, ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you.”’
Luke 17:5-6 (BSB)
When the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, He didn’t give them more. He only spoke of them taking action.
That’s because faith is not the mustard seed or the bread. Faith is acting on the knowledge that planting a tiny seed will yield big results, and combining the provided ingredients will bring provision and fulfill your needs.
That’s how the Kingdom of God works. Faith is a verb. So our first step is to act on the Word and declare it. And just like a lot of things happen in the background when bread is rising or a seed planted in the soil grows, God’s Kingdom starts working behind the scenes.
Don’t Open the Oven Door
So what happens after you’ve done your part? After you’ve mixed the ingredients of faith, spoken the Word, and set things in motion — what then?
The next step is to rest, trust, and wait for the results. Just as you shouldn’t open the oven door and let in cold air, hoping it doesn’t sabotage your bread.
After you put your faith in God, resist the urge to vent and complain about what is going wrong to everyone who will listen. Those words are undermining what you already put into action.
Your words should be reinforcing what God says about your situation.
You don’t need more faith; you just need to keep practicing it. The more you ask God and rely on Him, the more results, or bread, you will receive. As you keep trusting Him, it becomes easier to do. And as an added bonus, anxiety is replaced with peace.