God's Faith: Mark 11:20-25
The power to move mountains doesn’t reside in the strength of our faith, but in how aligned our heart is to God’s. I remember as a kid taking Jesus’ words in Mark 11:22 at face value. I told many inanimate things to move, and none of them did! In my childlike mind I assumed my faith must be weak because Jesus’ promise didn’t come true for me. I had this understanding because I didn’t realize what Jesus was genuinely teaching. I’ll return to this point in a few paragraphs.
A couple of days ago, I put all questions about the cursing of the tree on hold. Today, we’ll unpack those thoughts. Before going too deep, though, what was said before is still true. The fig tree did nothing wrong. It wasn’t the season for fruit, so it didn’t have any. Jesus knew this. The tree withered as a lesson for the disciples, not because the tree had violated God’s order.
The lesson Jesus wants the disciples to learn is the appearance of health does not imply alignment to the heart of God. The tree looked healthy, But Jesus desired fruit. Just because someone looks like they’ve got their life together doesn’t mean they are walking with the Lord. We need to be careful not to confuse an appearance of righteousness with a heart that is genuinely aligned to God.
Returning to my childlike misunderstanding, how we read Jesus’ directive in Mark 11:22 fuels this entire passage. Many translations give Mark 11:22 as “Have faith in God.” However, it is more direct to translate Mark 11:22 as “Have God’s faith.” Jesus isn’t telling us to believe more strongly in God; Jesus tells us the heart of a disciple should become like God’s heart. We need to value what He values. We need to desire what He desires. When we have God’s faith – when our heart is aligned with His – we will absolutely see the fulfillment of what resides in our heart because it also resides in God’s heart. Mark 11:22 isn’t a verse about the strength of someone’s faith, it is a verse about the alignment of their faith.
This makes the whole passage come together. When we pray, we should pray like we have already received it. If our heart aligns with God’s heart, then we will receive it because it is God’s desire. While we pray, we need to forgive others. God forgives us and if our heart aligns with His heart then we will desire to forgive, too. These verses aren’t commands from Jesus; they are characteristics of a heart aligning to God’s heart.
As a child, I absolutely misunderstood Jesus’ teaching in this passage. I wish I hadn’t, because my misunderstand caused a cloud of doubt to overshadow my relationship with God. It turns out the power to move mountains doesn’t reside in the strength of our faith, but in how aligned our heart is to God’s.
