Mountain Moving Faithনমুনা

Today we are going to look at one final instance where Jesus mentioned having faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed to move a mountain. In Matthew 17:14-21, we see a father come to Jesus, kneeling in humility asking if He would have mercy on his son. The father describes his symptoms and how the demonic possession has gotten him into dangerous situations. He continues by sharing how he had presented him to the disciples, but they could not cure him. 

Let’s stop here and think back to a situation in our own lives. A moment when you sought help for a dire need, yet were not able to find help or the cure from whom you sought it. Those can be some of the darkest and loneliest seasons of our lives. We can see this with the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8:43 KJV. “And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any”. In these desperate moments, our prayer life tends to grow more intense as we fall to our knees in humility, just as this father did, praying, “Lord, please have mercy on me or my loved one. Please help us.”

Back to Matthew 17, Jesus proclaimed some harsh words to His disciples, “And Jesus answered, ‘O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me’.” (ESV) Faithless? How? The disciples had been with Jesus since the beginning of His ministry. They believed that He was the Messiah, even witnessing his transfiguration in Chapter 17. How is it that they were not able to rebuke the devil as Jesus did, or set the boy free? The answer is clear: there was unbelief. Our faith and belief in God are in our movements, not our words. You can be as close to Jesus as they were, attending church, reading the Bible daily, and consistently praying. Still, you can have unbelief because faith is rooted in action not proximity to Jesus. It is so important that we not only confess with our lips that we are a part of the Kingdom of God but live this lifestyle daily.

Jesus’ message has been clear and consistent throughout the four gospels. You don’t need great faith to move mountains. What you do need is a grain of hope that is rooted in truth, watered by faith, and sustained by trust in God’s sovereign hand. There is nothing impossible with Jesus, nothing. He can take an impossible circumstance and work exceedingly and abundantly, turning things around for your good and His glory. Jesus can take a leper and heal him, cancer cells and shrink them, an adulterous marriage and restore and reconcile it, a hard heart and exchange it for a heart of flesh. Will you trust Him? 

I encourage you to cast all your cares upon Jesus today because He cares for you. If you have sought help in other vices or idols, I’m a witness, there is no help there. You must cling to the wonder-working power of Jesus Christ. I admonish you to confess any unbelief and pray that God replaces it with a mustard seed of faith in Him.

Mountain moving faith, when viewed in the context of scripture, points more toward the impossibilities that are spiritual and internal than an outward change in circumstances. You may have faith to believe in healing, but even then, on earth it is temporary. Jesus Christ wants to give you changes that will last throughout eternity. I encourage you to re-evaluate the areas in which you place your faith. Ask God to search your heart and reveal the deeply hidden parts. Then, trust Him to remove those mountains. You have the faith; use it!