How Does Your Faith Measure Up to The Mustard Seed?

"'….I tell you the truth, 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.’” Matthew 17:20b-21 NIV

Many people use these two verses as encouragement instead of seeing them for what they truly are: rebuke. Verse 20 starts off with Jesus replying to His disciples, “Because you have so little faith.” I have never seen that starting sentence in cards or pictures displaying the two verses.
       The disciples were unable to heal a demon possessed boy that was brought to them, so the boy’s father took him to Jesus. When Jesus healed the boy, the disciples could not understand why they had been unable to do the same, so they asked Him. His response (found in Matthew 17:20-21) is short and simple: they didn’t have enough faith.
       Because we don’t have faith even as small as a mustard seed, we aren’t seeing the full power of God displayed on earth.
       Have you read the book of Acts! It’s filled with amazing testimonies of what God wants to do through us. These things should and can be everyday occurrences for us.
       Now, I’m not perfect, but I want to get to this level of faith.
       As I continued to read the scripture on having faith the size of a mustard seed, I noticed that immediately after Jesus’ rebuke to His disciples, the Bible says that upon coming together in Galilee, He tells them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life” (vv.22-23).
       Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen to Him, but instead of being joyful about the fact that He would “be raised to life” after all that He would suffer, they “were filled with grief” (v.23).
      Even after all they had seen and after being rebuked, the disciples still didn’t have faith the size of a mustard seed. They had no hope because the reality of the Son of God didn’t match up with what they imagined He would be like. Their preconceived notions of God were getting in the way of their faith, so they weren’t seeing God as He really was.
      This is why so many of us (including me) don’t have a world shaking faith (which is ironically only the size of a mustard seed). It’s time to do some soul searching and faith growing.
      What preconceived notions about God (His character-including what you believe He’s willing to do) are keeping you from having faith as small as a mustard seed?
      It’s time for us to stop taking away from the image of God and trust the facts He has given to us about Himself through His Word (the Bible).