“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you(!)” (Matthew 17:20 [emphasis mine])
What was Jesus talking about? Is one of the marks of spiritual maturity the ability to move mountains like Kilimanjaro or Everest where ever we wish? In (Matt.21:21) where again we see words to this effect with the added “If you have faith and do not doubt you will say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea,’ it will be done;” both the Mount of Olives and the Temple mount would have been in view, even so mountain moving faith is not concerned merely with geographical formations of rock – He is directing our faith towards the impossible.
Again, we are forced to ask, “Is this graduate level faith?” I would say, yes and no; in one sense, it is faith born out of trust in God. Part of our problem when we pray is that we are focusing on our ability to believe instead of God’s willingness to answer the prayers of His people, His integrity to keep His promises and His power to do the impossible; as we learn to (1 Peter 5:7) “cast our cares upon Him” who cares for us we develop greater confidence in the Lord. But I would also say “no” in the sense that mountain moving faith does not depend on our level of faith. Mountain moving faith is not faith in faith; it is not an amount of faith which produces a desired result – it IS faith in God which produces a result.
Are there any mountains in your life which need moving?
I know some people in my own life that are facing IMPOSSIBLE situations right now. Some of them are in despair not knowing that there is hope in every hopeless situation. But hope is not tied to our ability to figure out the solution to our problems, rather it is tied to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – it IS tied to prayer and a reliance on the Lord for whatever is best.
Read (Mark 9:14-27) for one account of a man who brought His son to the disciples of Jesus and then finally to the Lord Himself. He had enough faith in the Lord to seek Him for help yet lacked a confidence in Him to do the impossible, saying, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief (v.24)!” If you can pray nothing else in your impossible moment – pray like that…
Finally, of the most hopeless and impossible situations which may trouble us none is more hopeless and impossible than our spiritual condition. Every last one of us is a sinner upon whom God’s wrath abides (John 3:36); the wage for our sin is eternal separation from God and condemnation in hell (see Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Revelation 20:15). We cannot deliver ourselves from this condition or condemnation but Jesus can and has made eternal life available to all who will call on and trust in Him (Romans 10:12-13, John 3:16). Jesus heals us from the illness which no doctor can (see Isaiah 53:5) and may heal and deliver us from any and all impossible illnesses in this life but He may not heal us now and He may not deliver us now.
His promise, to those who believe in Him in this life assures us however that in the life to come we will be healed, set free and made whole while in this life we will have peace (Isaiah 26:3) whatever the circumstance because we have trusted in Him who moves mountains.
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