Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me! I hope you’re old enough to remember the song. It was one of Hee-Haw’s greatest bits (1969-1992) by Buck Owens and Roy Clark. I hope you even sang it when you read it. Yet, this is the message the world gives us. Deep, Dark Depression, Excessive Misery! From politics to culture, newspapers to social media—it just ain’t good news! If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all! Impeachment, the impending war with Iran…Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!

The message the world gives is, indeed, gloom and despair; yet for the Christian believer, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, we have eternal hope and peace beyond understanding. If God is for us, then who on earth can be against us? (Romans 8:31) In times of desperation and confusion, hold on to the faith we have in Christ Jesus! You must hang on to faith!

While walking through our Ayden Cross & Crown bookstore, I happened upon a small vial of tiny little seeds—mustard seeds. I’m not sure how many there are in this tiny vial, but I might estimate fifty or more. (Why have one mustard seed when you can have fifty!) One of the smallest seeds in the world, but when planted in fertile soil, will produce a gigantic—weed. Yes, it is a weed. The Biblical mustard (Salvadora persica) wasn’t Frenches; it was an invasive, unruly, weed that, when left unattended, would branch out into a tree-like shrub.

When Jesus pointed to the necessity of a grain size piece of faith, I believe he intends us to see the mustard from seed through its life cycle to see how small amounts of faith lead to magnificent presence. Mustard of the Bible was more like our Kudzu. The tiny seed falls into the ground one day, and a spout appears the next. I don’t think Jesus ever intended for our faith to begin and remain as tiny seeds. Once we come to faith, our growth should start immediately.

Once the seeds took firm root, they grew unfettered! Had Jesus used a tree or some other example, we may think that we grow by the tending of human hands, but mustard needs no such tending. Mustard does not grow to be the biggest tree in the forest, but the faith of the redeemed grows and spreads without restraint and will infiltrate every garden plot, property, and wilderness. It knows no bounds!

The message of the hope we have in Christ knows of no property lines, nationalities, or political parties. Wars nor rumors of wars deter the message of the Gospel. The news of faith starts small but grows into healthy plants that give rest and shelter to birds and animals of the field. The message of faith answers the gloom, despair, and agony of the world. There under the limbs of an aggravating weed, is a place of peace, rest, and safety.

I’m not sure how these coming days will end. I’m not sure how much more divided our nation will become. I’m not sure if war will claim the lives of more humans than it will help. In a time when some are not sure of what side they will be on, I thank God that there are more of us bound by One Faith, One Lord, and One Baptism. Whatever may come, for the Christian Believer, gloom, despair, and agony will just be a funny song in the reruns of an old show.