Day 22 – Sycamine

(Ficus sycomorus)

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” Luke 17:5-6 KJV

Notably one of Jesus’s statements everyone of us has used or leaned on in our lives – if you have faith like the mustard seed… In the Gospel of Matthew, it is recorded that you can move mountains. But Luke says we can move a sycamine tree (translated as mulberry in newer Biblical versions).

To me, there are two important facts to this saying, that with even a little faith – the size of a mustard seed – we can accomplish faith-based actions. And then there is the sycamine. The thing we need faith for to be removed. The symbolism of the sycamine is the representation of anything standing in your way to move forward in your spiritual growth. Sickness and health conditions, financial difficulties, job loss, relationships to be reconciled, addiction, or anything else you need faith to move out of your way to move forward.

Prayer: Father, so many times I need to remind myself that to overcome the sycamine in front of me, I need to have faith – even if it is the size of a mustard seed. Lord, You know of each sycamine in front of the one praying here. These trees feel big and unmovable, and I ask that through Your love and grace You help us to overcome this with Jesus Christ and grow our faith from a mustard seed into a forest of faith. Amen.

Love, Pastor Iriza