Moving Mountains

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, 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 17:20 

A few years ago, God began to use this story in Matthew 17 to teach me about moving mountains in my life. In this story, there is a father who was seeking healing for his son. The disciples had already been unsuccessful in healing the boy. So, the man seeks Jesus out and falls on his knees asking Him to heal his son. After Jesus heals the boy, the disciples ask Jesus why they were unable to do it. He responds by telling them that it was their lack of faith. And then shares that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed they could move a mountain.

This idea of moving mountains sounds crazy. I can’t say for sure that God was talking about physical mountains here but it certainly sounds like it. What I do know is this…God began to show me that I can move the mountains that are in my life. I’m sure like me, you have a mountain or two right now that you want God to move. It could be anything from anxiety, bitterness, fear, depression, loneliness, waiting, etc.

As I began to study this story in Matthew 17, I already knew one mountain in my life was waiting. Waiting for God to open the door to start a ministry and waiting on God for a relationship. But those weren’t the mountains He wanted to move just then.  He began to show me mountains of fear, doubt, and bitterness that needed to be moved. These had popped up in my waiting and I never even recognized them for what they were. MOUNTAINS!

You see, God wasn’t going to move the mountain of waiting in my life until the fear, doubt, and bitterness were removed. That is when He began to show me that with Him I could move any mountain in my life. All I needed was the smallest amount of faith.  MUSTARD SEED FAITH!

If you have never seen a mustard seed, it is so tiny that you need to be pretty close to see just one seed. But yet that one seed, when planted, can grow a large tree. 

“faith is sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

So, I began asking God to plant that mustard seed faith in my life. As I studied God’s Word more, He led me to two verses of scripture that began to help me grow in my faith so that I could conquer those mountains. The first was Hebrews 11:1 which says “faith is sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 

When you plant a mustard seed in the ground you can no longer see it but you tend to and care for the ground it is planted in. As you care for it, you are sure that a plant will come and certain that one day you will see it begin to grow above ground.

It’s the same way with faith. Mustard seed faith planted within our hearts and given to God is faith that is hopeful and certain because of what we know about who God is. We are sure of what we hope for because we know from story after story in the Bible that God will fulfill His promises.  We are also certain of what we do not see because we also know from scripture that God is always working in ways that we can’t see.

I began to give God my fear, doubts, and bitterness, believing that in His time He would help me remove them so they no longer stood in my way as I waited. It was a daily battle for a while. But the more I studied His Word, the stronger my faith grew.

“if you believe, you will
receive whatever you ask
for in prayer.” 

Matthew 21:22

The second verse God gave me during this time came from Matthew 21. There is a story in this chapter where Jesus causes a fig tree to wither and die because it did not have any figs on it. When the disciples asked why the tree withered so quickly Jesus tells them it is because it didn’t do what it was supposed to do. Then he tells them, if they have faith and don’t doubt, they can do what He did to the fig tree. He even goes a step further to say they could throw a mountain into the sea. There comes that idea of moving mountains again. But it was what Jesus said next that really encouraged me. In verse 22 He says, “if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” 

God showed me that it is not enough to just have faith that the mountain can be moved: you actually have to take action and ask God for it. He reminded me that the end of Matthew 17:20 said “nothing will be impossible for you.” God is big and He can do the impossible but He desired for me to play an active role if I want to see the impossible done. That only comes through prayer.

It is mustard seed faith and prayer that makes us mountain movers. I don’t know what your mountains are today. But I challenge you to plant that mustard seed faith in your life and ask God to help you move them. Choose to hope in God and rest in the assurance that He is at work even if you can’t see anything happening. Give it to Him daily, be in His Word, and watch those mountains move.