“So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ” Luke 17:6 (NKJV)

Friday evening Dale treated me to a date dinner. We had heard about a Japanese restaurant in the area that we hadn’t heard of before. We love Japanese food and having lived there for three years, we can be critical of taste and presentation. It is hard to find good Japanese food, and this was the case on Friday. The presentation was hopeful, but the taste just wasn’t authentic to us.

We came home after dinner to binge a show we have been watching. Before settling in I suggested popcorn. We ate our portions and watched a couple of episodes and retired for the night.

This morning I awoke to realize that I had a popcorn kernel stuck in my tooth. My flossing and brushing last night merely pushed it deeper between my gum and tooth. It was excruciating, as stuck popcorn kernels tend to be.

I tried flossing and brushing a couple more times to no avail. I knew that kernel must be at least eight inches in diameter. Finally, the brushing helped dislodge the culprit. I saw it on my toothbrush and removed it. It wasn’t even a milometer. I commented to Dale that something that little could cause so much discomfort.

Immediately, I thought of the scripture about the mustard seed, the one above and Matthew 17:20, “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (NLT)

As I thought about the scripture I felt like the Lord said to me, faith as a mustard seed can move mountains, and sin as small as this can cause me pain.

I have kept thinking about this today. Instruction on sin early on a Saturday morning which has left me in awe of a lesson from popcorn.