You Will Move Mountains

I love it when I have an epiphany! Well, sometimes I do. I have discovered that often they mean work: physically, emotionally and/or spiritually. Today’s epiphany encompasses the latter two which, if you ask me, usually poses a greater challenge than any physical requirement.

So, what was this great epiphany, you ask? Well, two bible verses finally met at some kind of intersection in my mind. A kind of head-on collision! First:

Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you, (Matthew 17:20).

Faith, got it. I consider myself a person of faith and certainly appreciated reading that with faith nothing would be impossible for me. I thought to myself, focus on faith. Admittedly, in my mind I was trying to put some sort of little checkmark in a box as if to say, yes, I do this, so that I could mentally move on. But something kept gnawing at me. Then, a second verse pushed to the forefront of my mind, keeping me from putting that checkmark in its imaginary box and as such preventing me from moving on. That verse:

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, (Luke 3:4-6).

And there it was, “prepare the way of the Lord…” I have been pleading with the Lord for answers and direction on a handful of issues. Suddenly, though, I found myself asking, what are the obstacles I am putting in His way? What mountains (roadblocks) do I actively place or passively permit in my life? What valleys have I plunged into (emotionally/spiritually) that stand in the way of my relationship with the Lord and keep me from His intended path?

See what I mean? Work! I can easily acknowledge faith in the Lord. I have a great understanding of and appreciation for the fact that He alone is Lord of all and can indeed do all things. For the first time, though, I really read these verses and as such I finally understood that my faith in the Lord needs to encompass the fact that He has given me a great many gifts, talents and abilities to be used to move mountains and fill valleys, any obstacle that stands between me and Him.

Act, and God will act.

~St. Joan of Arc

Faith is not a mere passive acknowledgement in God, though, that is an important start. Ultimately, faith is a call to action - “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain…” “You will say,” this implies that if you don’t, that mountain is not budging. Our faith is an opportunity to participate in the work of the Lord. Somehow, I know not when, I had forgotten that belief in God, faith, requires action. Trusting that He has given us the tools to move mountains and then going out and moving mountains!