(On August 19, 2016 I
published SPEAK THE WORD – Part I where I shared what Jesus did when challenged
about His faith. That article and this
are connected but each teaching can stand by itself as well.)
This week I would like
to share with you how you can make a stand with the smallest amount of faith to
create the greatest gain. “Impossible”,
you say?
“Jesus answered, “You were not able to make the demon go out, because your faith is too small. Believe me when I tell you, if your faith is only as
big as a mustard seed you can say
to this mountain, ‘Move from here to
there,’ and it will move. You
will be able to do anything.” –Matthew 17:20 ERV
Now, for many of us
Christians this is a familiar scripture.
Jesus Himself spoke these words and if Jesus said it then it must be
truth, yet how many of us truly believe it?
We want to say that we believe it, but how many of us would walk out and
look at a mountain and tell it to move expecting it to move? To be honest, I wish I could but I doubt it
would happen for me in this day and age.
This is unbelief – and this from a woman who is 44 years old in the Lord
and actively growing closer and closer to Him every day. Mountains can take any form from an actual
mountain made of rock and earth to giants in our way (as the Israelites faced
in taking the Promised Land), to being thousands of dollars in debt and only
making it from payday to payday, to a diagnoses of cancer, to facing a legal
difficulty, to…well you can see the list can go on and on. Do you have any mountains in your life that
need to be moved?
“The
truth is, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain,
fall into the sea.’ And if you
have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, then
God will do it for you.” –
Mark 11:23 ERV
“And if you have no doubts
in your mind…” That is the key, you
know. Doubts are like chains and
shackles, dragging on us and making it hard to lift anything up, let alone
mountains.
James said, “But when you ask God, you
must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is
blown up and down by the wind. People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord." -James 1:6-8 ERV
Doubt! How it hinders
us!! How do we get rid of it? Imagine each doubt you ever had or will have as
a rock. Further imagine these rocks all
piled on top of each other. I do not
know about your pile but mine is pretty high…almost a mountain! Now, I can speak about this mountain of doubt…but I have found that when I speak about any mountain in my life it just
magnifies it (making it look bigger and bigger) in my eyes. Sometimes I’ve cried out to God to remove the
mountains in my life, like this mountain of doubt. Then God challenges me, why should He do
something He has already told me to do (Mark 11:24)? I am to speak
to the mountain. What do I speak to
the mountain? What can I say that will
make any difference? Here is the
key: the Word!
Let me share a good example of someone whose walk in faith
was exemplary, strong, and confident…and then he doubted. We read in Matthew 11:2-3 how John (the
Baptist) heard about the things Jesus was doing and he doubted that Jesus was
the Messiah (Promised One). Now, please
remember that Jesus being the Promised One was the basis of John’s total
ministry, so if Jesus was not the Promised One then John’s whole ministry was a
failure. Did John ask his own disciples
to verify Who Jesus was? No, he went to
the source! He sent his disciples to
Jesus Himself to ask, “Are you the one we
have been expecting, or should we wait for someone else?" Jesus responded, "Go tell John what you have heard and seen: The blind can see. The crippled can walk. People with leprosy are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are brought back to life. And the Good News is being told to the poor. Great blessings
belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me,” (Matthew 11:4-6 ERV). John did not seek confirmation from anyone else;
he went to the Word (John 1:1, 14).
How about another man who spent a lot of quality time with Jesus? He struggled with doubt and, in fact, proclaimed that unless he had proof he would not believe. We read in John 20:24-25 how one of the disciples, Thomas, expressed his doubt when he said, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe," (John 20:25b KJV). Even though Thomas had seen Jesus rise people from the dead he could not believe that Jesus could be raised from the dead. How did Jesus deal with Thomas' doubt? "And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God," (John 20:26-28). What changed Thomas from doubting to belief? The Presence of Jesus, the Word (John 1:1, 14).
So, I see that to deal with my mountain of doubt I need Jesus, the Word. When I read Luke 4 I am able to see what Jesus did with doubt. The devil tried to temp Jesus two times and both times Jesus responded, "It is written..." Jesus responded with the Word. On the third temptation the devil tried to use scripture himself and still Jesus answered with the Word of God.
What is the key to moving just one doubt or a whole mountain of doubt? Speak the word! What is the key to moving the mountains in your life? Speak the Word! Get into the Bible, ask God to show you His Word on the subject (or mountain) you struggle with. I suspect that when you move "your" mountain then you will have that faith the size of a mustard seed and you will be able to move anything by the Word of God!
(If you would like to know how I am dealing with my mountain of doubt, please email me with "Mountain of Doubt" in the subject line and I would be glad to share with you what God is doing for me.)
