Mountain Moving
By
Elin Henderson
“So Jesus answered…them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you if you
have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig
tree, but also if you say to this mountain “Be removed and be cast into
the sea,” it will be done.’”
After living on the flat coast of Africa and then in Florida, I
am always overwhelmed and amazed to travel into “mountain” country. Whether
it’s the Drakensburg Mountains of South Africa or the Rocky Mountains here in
the US, I am awed by the size and magnitude of these seemingly immovable
landmarks.
So, when Jesus says to the disciples, “If you have faith, you
can tell that mountain to be removed and cast into the sea, and you know, it
will happen,” the impossibility of the task from a human perspective isn’t hard
to imagine. Granted, most of us aren’t needing actual mountains moved, but
let’s face it, we all have some pretty BIG mountains in our lives. Mt. Fear,
Mt. Insecurity, Mt. Hurt, Mt. Unforgiveness, to name a few. The size and
magnitude of these monsters in our lives can be overwhelming and lead us to
despair or despondency.
Jesus is calling us like He did His disciples - - to face our
mountains with faith and not doubt, not because we can move that mountain,
but because HE CAN ! Is He bigger than our
mountains? Is He stronger? Is He able? The answer is always YES! When we believe
that He is able and have faith in His ability, then the ground starts to
rumble and the mountain begins to move.
Look again at this verse. It isn’t just removing the mountain.
It is casting it into the sea. There is closure when something sinks beneath
the waters. Then, when we recall the mountains, all we’ll see is a sign
floating from God reading, “No swimming and absolutely no SCUBA diving
permitted.” So, let’s start moving some mountains, and when the sea swallows
them up, let’s obey the signs and stay out of the water!
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Are
there any mountains you can “name” in your life today?
2. How
does seeing that “no swimming” sign in the waters help us have victory?
FURTHER
READING:
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin
Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as church planters
with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to
fourteen-year-old Callie and twelve-year-old Elias.
