Trust and a faulty assumption

What is faith?  For me, Faith is trust that God is who he says he is.  That God is true to his word:
specifically that He is a god of love who has my best interest at heart, like the perfect parent. So I do not need to have a great deal of faith.  In fact, Jesus said (since I believe that he knew more about God than I do) that "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this tree, 'be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

What does that mean?  Does that mean if I have faith I can go around doing the impossible: uprooting trees and sending them into the sea?  If I metaphorically uproot no trees in my life, did I not have enough faith?

This thinking is based on a bad assumption.  It assumes that faith is in one's power - and having enough faith WE can do the supernatural. This assumes that God is a genie.  That if we possess enough of something we can muster ourselves, that God will do our bidding.  It is backwards.  God does his bidding.  But if we have an ounce of trust and an ear to hear him, when He says, "I wish to uproot that tree and send it into the sea and I want you to do it."  With just a spec of faith (trust) in his will, we can do it.  We can be successful if we do his will.

Knowing this, I can look back over my life with new eyes.  I can see all the countless trees I uprooted when I put my faith in him, and he came through for me, sooner or later, every time.  Does this mean my life has been a fairy tale?  No, ask anyone close to me.  But if I can see how I am perfected in struggle, valued in poverty, raised when low, I can see the hand of God in my life.  And I can see how he was faithful, trustworthy, good, and loving.

And there is a lesson there.  I should be all about getting to know him - so I can discern his will for me at each moment, in every situation.  Because it is only when I do his will that I am successful.

So, then you ask, "how do I know what God's will is?"  I can tell you how I I know God's will:  it is always

the way of love.  But you are skeptical: don't some Christians that burn Korans and persecute people of different religious or cultural affiliations think that they are doing it in love?  Most probably don't if you call them on it and they have learned humility.  But there are those who so believe a twisted view of love that they persist.  What is the defense against this?  Couldn't that be me?  The defense against this, I think, is to have God teach me the way of love by immersing myself in the wisdom of scripture. Scripture is a window into who God is. Studying it and hearing it brings me closer to him, helps me learn who he is. It is not an easy road and it takes time. It takes diligence and humility. But the end result is to learn to love. Truly love. Love like God loves - like Jesus loved and loves. And knowing how to love, I can do God's will and, as important, know when I am not doing God's will.  When I do God's will, he does all the work for me, and I just get to enjoy the ride, albeit it a bumpy one at times. But it is an exciting and fulfilling journey, filled with growth and wonder.