A mustard seed of hope

3,373 confirmed deaths…
6,737 confirmed missing…

1.6 million live with 5km of the coast…
380,000+ people have been evacuated…
500,000+ living in temporary shelters
2,852 bridges destroyed…
827 roads destroyed…
8 railways destroyed…
40,000 homes destroyed…

1.4 million homes have no access to water…
1.25 million homes have no access to electricity…
3.2 million homes are running out of gas…

Japan.

  

  

I don't know about you, but that's a lot of numbers. Especially when living in a town with a population of only 11,000 people, I rarely encounter more than a few hundred people at once. And I think when faced with a lot of numbers, we are quick to become apathetic. Because we can't relate, and then life gets in the way.

   I believe there is a way out. A way out of apathy, of indifference, and of that numb feeling when you witness devastation second hand - prayer.

   Prayer can seem at times tiny, insignificant, even pointless. But I believe God is listening and responding, passionate and powerful. Jesus makes a promise.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." (Matt 18:18)

  Sometimes we can give, in fact a lot of the time we can give. However, when we can't give financially, prayer is key. If we spend time investing in prayer, God will invest in it too. He will make it happen in Heaven, He will take action, He will respond.

   He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:20)

   Jesus talks about faith here, a passage I know well but find hard to grasp and put into action. Someone wise once told me, focus on the mustard seed rather than the mountain – look at what you have rather than at the scale of what you’re praying for. Try to fix your eyes on Him rather than on your open hands.

   The exciting thing is that the way out starts here, in playing with the possibility that your prayers matter, and grow and transform people’s lives. When guilt ends, once it stops being about us, we focus on others, and that’s when hope begins. And we’re not supposed to keep hope to ourselves.

Today hope is needed in Japan, let us be encouraged to pray and consider that the little we can give can be a mustard seed of hope watered by the grace of God, in the barren landscape of devastation.

Partner with us today at www.feedthehungry.org.uk

This Article is written by Ruth Jesson one of the growing number of young people who are partnering with Feed The Hungry in the UK.