What Yoda Teaches Us About Faith

One of my favorite scenes of all the Star Wars movies comes from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. When Luke is on the planet Dagobah being trained by the Jedi Master Yoda, Yoda assigns Luke a difficult task. Luke’s ship, which is called an X-wing, sank into the swampy waters of the planet when he landed. It has since been submerged underwater, but Yoda instructs Luke to use the force to raise the ship out of the water. He teaches Luke that size doesn’t matter, that there is no difference between him using the force to raise some stones and lifting this ship.  

Luke tries, but the ship sinks back into the murky waters, and he tells Yoda that what he asks is impossible and cannot be done. Then, Yoda closes his eyes in concentration, and—as the music swells to a crescendo—the ship rises and is placed on solid ground. Luke’s response to this is a statement of disbelief; he says, “I don’t believe it.” In response to this, Yoda reprimands Luke, saying, “That is why you fail.” 

(If you would like to watch this scene, you can see it on YouTube by clicking the link here.)

This scene reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 17. In this passage, Jesus’ disciples have failed to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus then “rebuke[s] the demon, and it [comes] out of him, and the boy [is] healed instantly” (v. 18). After this, Jesus’ disciples privately ask Him why they couldn’t cast the demon out. Here is Jesus’ response: “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (v. 20).  

From this verse, we learn that it does not matter how much faith we have; what matters is the object of our faith. In other words, you can have little faith—“like a grain of mustard seed”—but if your faith is in God, that faith can accomplish seemingly impossible works like moving a mountain. 

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker struggled to move a large object because he did not believe he could. He saw the task as impossible, which Yoda told him was why he failed. We often have the same response when presented with a challenge in our spiritual lives. Sometimes, God asks us to obey Him in a specific area of our lives or step out in faith and trust Him with something outside of our comfort zone. However, instead of having faith in God, we look to our own abilities and strengths and say that we can’t do it, reasoning that the task is impossible. 

As Christians, our job is not to have great, strong faith that will never be moved. Instead, our responsibility is to place our faith in the one who is great, mighty, and will never be moved. We cannot accomplish God’s will on our own, and we were never meant to. Instead, we must believe in the Lord, trust that He will work through us, and obey Him as He directs us. 

I must offer a disclaimer with this teaching, however. This verse is not saying that if you have faith in God, you can do anything. The Bible does not promote any sort of prosperity teaching that, if you only have faith, you will never get sick, always have enough money, and receive everything you ask God for. No, instead, this truth should drive us to greater dependence on God and more obedience to Him! It is good to pray for the Lord’s will to be done, but we must do so believing that He can and will work according to His sovereign purpose. We must trust that He can do what we cannot. 

So, is there a metaphorical mountain in your path? Is there a challenging task that the Lord has called you to? If this is what you are faced with, place your faith in the God who uses us for His glory and accomplishes the impossible as only He can. 

“And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Mark 11:22–23