One of our challenges for 2014 is to learn and live
all 50
commands of Jesus. Jesus told us that following his commandments
is a way to love him and a way for his love and his joy to fill our lives (John
15:9-12). In his Great Commission, Jesus tells his followers to make
disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he commanded us
(Matthew 28:19-20). So each week in this year we are learning and living
one command of Jesus. Here is our command for this week...
Week 25:
Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and
do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you
can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be
done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer,”
(Matthew 21:21-22).
Application:
That would be a pretty cool trick, wouldn’t it? I could see gathering all my friends and
family – especially the nonbelievers – and saying, “Watch this!” Of course, I would have to go somewhere
besides Illinois. We do not have many
mountains here. Maybe I would go
somewhere like Colorado. I’d walk up to
the Rocky Mountains and say, “Move!” The
whole thing would rip up from the ground and fly across the sky until it
plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Pretty
cool trick!
But Jesus is not talking about magic tricks here. Jesus is talking about faith, particularly a
lack of faith. His disciples struggled
with this. I think about the time a man
came with his sick son and the disciples had a hard time healing him because of
their lack of faith. Or the time Jesus
told the disciples to feed the crowd, but they couldn't imagine how due
to their lack of faith. Or the time
Peter was actually walking on water – should have been a faith booster – but then
he sank due to his lack of faith. Or when
all the disciples eventually betrayed, denied, or deserted Jesus because of
their lack of faith.
Lack of faith it is a struggle we all have. We want to believe. Perhaps we do believe. But there is that side of us that holds back,
that side of us that wants to play it safe and find another alternative in case
God does come through. We lack faith.
Jesus commands us to ask in faith. Yeah, but what about the times I prayed and
what I asked for did not happen. We've all had that experience. In that case,
we might have to ask ourselves who we were placing our faith in. Were we placing our faith in ourselves - in
our own ideas of what should happen and our own timetable of when they should
happen? Or were we placing our faith in
God to love us, care for us, help us, provide for us, and guide us in the way
God (the all-knowing, always faithful God) saw best.
I have been dealing with some big mountains this year, as I
know many people have. One of my mountains
has been skin cancer. Several spots have
been identified as cancerous, requiring pretty extensive surgery. At times I pray for what I want – the cancer
to be gone. Maybe God will do that someday,
but that is not how things have turned out so far. When I have been able to let go of my
expectations for how I want things to go and simply placed my faith in God to
love me, care for me, help me, provide for me, and guide me, I have been able
to see how faithful God is. God has provided for our family. God has brought
healing inside and out. God has brought
all sorts of amazing people around me to encourage me and walk with me. God has given me strength and ability beyond
what I thought I was capable of. In God’s
way and God’s time, he has been moving this mountain and leading me forward.
We all face mountains.
Rather than let the mountain overwhelm us or defeat us, let us ask God in
faith to move the mountain – not a faith that God will do what we want; a faith
that believes God is faithful to love us, care for us, help us, provide for us,
and guide us.
What is your mountain?
Ask God in faith to move it!
Here is an inspiring song to sing as you do this: Only A Mountain by Jason Castro
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