I used to think this verse was just a metaphor.
I've certainly never seen a mountain move and I'm surrounded by them on all sides. See that picture above, it was taken from my front yard this weekend. And I've never seen it move, no matter how little or how big my faith.
But I've learned our lives are full of mountains. Mountains can be many things, sometimes they're addiction, unsaved loved ones, scars, fresh wounds, miscarriages, infertility, broken relationships, or pride, just to name a few.
Your mountain may not look like mine. Regardless, we all have mountains.
About five years ago I had to face the fact I didn’t really believe God could deliver people from alcoholism and addictions. I knew the stories in the Bible and I knew that I believed in God, I just didn’t believe He did those kinds of things, or at least, not anymore. He lived in the pages of the Bible; His miracles were parting the Red Sea with Moses, not in today’s world.
At least, that’s what I thought deep down.
And this scared me. Because if I didn’t really believe God was the God today that He was in the Bible days, then how could He save us? If His promises aren’t true today, then what have I believed in my whole life?
I stepped out in faith. I asked God to show Himself to me. I asked Him to meet me and show me that He was real.
I made a decision to believe that He was the God He said He was, that He is I am, not I was. I decided that I’d quit limiting Him with my small faith and see what He could do.
And oh my friend, how He meets us. When you ask God to show up, He does.
When we put our faith to the test, walk out on the edge and ask God, “Meet me here,” He does.
He’s delivered lifelong addicts when I thought they’d go to the grave chained to their addictions. He's brought healing to areas of my life I never expected or even realized needed healing. Patiently, He continually works on me, sometimes moving whole mountains, and other times, chipping away until it's gone.
I don't know what your mountain is, but if you ask God, in true faith, He will move it. It might not be your timing, or the way you expected, but in His timing, in His way, He will do so. And His way, as I'm learning, is always the best.
What mountains has God moved in your life?
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This is something I struggle with even today. What do I believe God will do in my life if I ask Him to. It’s funny you mention addictions. I used to work in the chemical dependency counseling field, and though I knew healing from that is hard, and the odds are not all that great, it IS possible. However, I’ve always been leery of stories where a person was healed through faith alone. I was proven wrong when a man shared his testimony on my blog–I LOVE testimonies–about how, after spending time with what he termed were “those Christian people” he began to read the Bible. One day he was reading while drinking a beer, having struggled with alcoholism among other things, and realized the two didn’t go together. He wanted the Bible MORE, so that was the end of the beer. Yes, God is in the business of healing today. He is intimately involved in our lives. We just need to invite Him and make room for when He joins us.
I know exactly how you feel. Our family has some of the same issues and then some different ones. We are watching God bring family members back who have been out of our lives for many years. God is an Awesome God and He always has His kids best interest in mind. God gave every one of us free will and sometimes the people, especially the adults, don’t realize the choices they make have a ripple effect and their choice and their consequence effects many people, not just them. But, God is faithful, His Word says He restores families and brings back the children that have been scattered. I am so thankful for that and after many years of claiming that verse for our family we are now just beginning to see it with our human eyes, not just our faith eyes. Of course, we wish our family wouldn’t have ever had to go through these things and we wanted God to fix it immediately. You’re right God’s timing is perfect, because He sees the whole picture. I choose to believe it is Father God exercising patience (not just teaching us to be patient) as He waits for hearts to be softened and yield to Him. This helps me not to become angry and hold resentment, but to walk in love and pray for the person and their situation. I will be honest I do have my moments of anger at peoples choices and their lack of understanding that they are not only hurting their selves, but the innocents that didn’t get a vote when the decision was made. Someone once told me what God allows in His wisdom, that He could have prevented by His Power, is done for His Glory. I always want God to get the glory so others will come to know Him.
I will add you and your family to my prayers, thanks for being so honest and open, that’s what helps others to know they are not alone.