Have you seen a mustard seed? They’re really small. These small seeds can produce a tree 8-9 feet tall, depending on the type of seed. This is the seed that many scholars say Jesus was talking about when He used the example of the mustard seed to illustrate faith. We tend to think our faith isn’t enough because it’s not a big faith. So, how big is your faith? I’ll confess that there are times when my faith isn’t that big. In the song “Even If” by MercyMe we find words that show us that we aren’t alone in our struggle with faith. Bart Millard sings, “They say it only takes a little faith to move a mountain, well good thing, a little faith is all I have, right now.” The size of our faith isn’t important. What we do with it is.

Addiction is a form of idolatry. It may not be the reason we become addicted to whatever controls us. The thing we cannot manage. A simple definition for an idol is something of extreme devotion. That something could be drugs, alcohol, sex, smartphone, shopping, and so on. Our idol is anything that we place ahead of God. Church attendance can be an idol if it has more importance than God has in our lives. We can identify our idols by paying attention to what we turn to in order to meet our needs or desires. Most of the time we don’t realize that we have set up an idol. Edward T. Welch states in his book, “Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness,” “We choose idols in part because we believe that they will give us what we want.” When we turn to idols we seek relief, pleasure, or to feel better about a situation. Idols are the way we escape uncomfortable situations. 

In his book, “Depression: Looking Up From the Stubborn Darkness,” Edward T. Weich talks about the culture of self-indulgence. He writes, “The myth is that “one more” will finally bring satisfaction. The reality, of course, is that it just leaves us with a desire for two more, and then three, because we find out that one didn’t satisfy.” (pg 102). Welch is talking about how the culture of self-indulgence contributes to depression. However, as I read this my mind gravitated toward addiction. From my experiences this is a great description of an addiction. Addiction and depression frequently co-occur in a complex, two-way cycle. People often use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate depressive symptoms like sadness and low energy. However, these substances chemically alter brain function, ultimately worsening depression and making both conditions harder to treat.

Jesus tells of a story about a young man who asks his father for his inheritance and once it is granted to him he leaves home to explore the world. Once out in the world he spends his entire inheritance on wild living. Broke and broken he decides to return to his father to become a hired hand. The father must have been scanning the horizon every day since his son left, because “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20). The father was overcome with joy that his son had returned and threw a huge party to celebrate his return.