Moving Mountains

As I was driving through the hills between Erie and Elmira, I was thinking about all the bills that had to be paid, the appointments that needed to be scheduled, and all the items that needed to be packed.  I was thinking about the stresses in my life.  I like to pray when I drive as well as think about how great our God is.  I marvel at the hills and streams as the light shines down on them, and think about what a beautiful Earth we are blessed with.  But during this particular part of the drive, the only hills I was seeing were the forthcoming mountain that was my to-do list.  I turned up the radio in attempt to drown out the internal fears and stressors that were running through my mind.  Then I heard something that changed my entire thought process.  The XM radio said,

 “Don’t tell your God how big your mountain is, instead tell your mountain how big your God is.”

I had never thought of that.

I had probably heard this saying before, or something similar, but I never really listened and though about it.

I know God is all powerful.  I know He never gives us more than we can carry.  And I know if we call on Him, he is with us every step of the way.  But, I was telling God how big my mountains were almost on a daily basis.  As if he didn’t know already or something.  I was asking God for strength and courage as if He could give it to me and I would be okay out there all on my own.  I was telling Him about my future as if He Himself hadn’t already planned it.  God loves us, and he wouldn’t give us mountains we couldn’t climb.  But what if it’s not about asking Him for the proper gear to climb the mountains.  What if it’s not about packing God in with our fleece and trail mix.  What if, just maybe, we told that mountain how big our God was and that mountain moved. 

Because God can move the mountains.

It makes things seem a lot less scary when I remember who has the power over all things, and who already knows how things are going to turn out. 

I’m not saying we should live carelessly risky or unprepared lives, but I am saying that God has the power over all things so it’s unfair to give power to our stressors. 

It’s belittling to our God when we continue to tell him how big these mountains in our lives are as if he has no power over them.  He is all powerful and all mighty, and he moved my mountains that day.

My to-do list hasn’t gotten much shorter; in fact it might actually be longer than the one I was thinking up in my head during the drive.  But it’s no longer a mountain.

These types of mountains can shade the light of God in our lives.   

When these mountains are there it’s not pitch black, He is still there.  But His true beauty and power can’t be seen because we act as if these mountains are more powerful and deserve our attention. But they don’t.  And the most amazing part is, if we surrender to His power and truly believe that He can move mountains, He will.  And His light will shine even brighter in our lives.

Satan has this way of putting mountains in our lives in attempt to shade God’s power and strength.  But when we call on the Lord, even Satan has no ground to stand on. 

So I’m done telling God about my troubles and asking for strength for myself.  I’m telling my troubles about my God, and letting them no they don’t have a chance.  I’m going to be led by the Lord and serve Him with all of myself.  I don’t need to pack my gear, and put God in my pocket for when I need Him.  My gear is God.  Instead, I’m going to serve our Lord and tell my stressors to take a hike.   

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

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 21:18-22