Monday, September 13, 2010

Can God Really Move Mountains?

“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed.” (Isaiah 40:3-4)
“I am so exhausted!” said my dear friend and prayer partner some weeks ago. “My job takes everything out of me. The meetings. The long hours. The paperwork. My boss.
“I feel like God wants me to go to seminary and serve in leadership in my church, but I don’t know how that’s ever going to happen. I don’t have the energy or even the time to take that first step.”
Unfortunately, I often feel the same way my friend does. Overwhelmed. Stressed. Anxious. Frustrated. Worried that I’ll never be able to serve the Lord the way He wants me to.
After speaking with my friend and spending some time alone in prayer, the Lord assured me that He could move the mountains in our lives to not only serve him in ways we never dreamed of, but we could ask Him for the seemingly impossible and He would do it (Luke 1:37).
First, the Lord reminded me that all we need is faith as small as a mustard seed and say to the mountains in our lives, “Move from here to there, and [they] would move. Nothing would be impossible” (Matthew 17:20-21). But God said only his Spirit would move our mountains, not our own strength (Zechariah 4:6).

Mountain-moving Power
The Lord showed me just how powerful He is when it comes to moving mountains in the book of Zechariah concerning Zerubbabel, whose mission was to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after the release of the children of Israel from Babylonian captivity. Zerubbabel faced great opposition, but the Lord assured him, “Nothing, not even a mighty mountain will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will flatten out before him!” (Zechariah 4:7) In other words, the temple would be rebuilt by the power of God, and nothing would stand in the way.
God reminded me of a similar situation Nehemiah faced when the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem following Babylonian captivity. Nehemiah, a mere slave at the time, prayed his heart out, asking God to give him favor in the eyes of the King so he could ask him for the seemingly impossible: to take time off to oversee the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls that were destroyed during the Babylonian invasion; for protection while he traveled to Jerusalem; for permission to haul timber to reconstruct the walls and build a residence for himself (Nehemiah 1; 2:1-8).

Overcoming Obstacles
And guess what? The Lord gave him favor, and the King gave Nehemiah everything he asked for (Nehemiah 2:1-10). But the story doesn’t end there. Nehemiah faced great obstacles. The enemies of Israel fought him and the Jewish people tooth and nail to stop them from rebuilding the city walls. But despite the fierce opposition, the walls were eventually rebuilt. God’s ultimate will prevailed (Nehemiah 4, 5, 6).
The lesson for us all is that no matter what mountains or obstacles we face (ex., a tremendous workload, a job loss, limited resources, family opposition, physical/mental exhaustion, or even depression), just know the work God has prepared for us to do will be completed. His work through us may experience delays, but in the end we will complete all the tasks he gives us as we persevere and don’t give up. And if we ask Him for the seemingly impossible, He will do it. Why? Because God’s plans can’t be stopped (Job 42:2)!

26 comments:

  1. Yes! God can move mountains! And He often does in my life :-)

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  2. Praise the Lord! Thank you. It's always good to be reminded often that the Lord can move the mountains in our lives. We, his people, can be so fickle and forget so quickly, even as the Israelites did again and again.

    The Lord has done some amazing things in my life and moved many mountains, but there's always a bigger one just ahead and I have to strengthen myself in Lord through reading his Word, prayer and reflection, (and reading posts like yours :-). He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He has commissioned us to do, He will make away. However, we have to speak to those mountains in faith and expect them to move.

    God Bless you my sister.

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  3. Really God can move mountains...
    and we can also move mountain
    if only we have FAITH...
    even as small as a mustard seed!!!

    Thank you so much for your comments...
    All the best to your daily life
    and God bless...

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  4. It is good for us to be reminded of the awesome God we serve. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). So when we feel overwhelmed by the great mountains of life, and we trust in God, He will show himself strong on our behalf.

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  5. The necessity needed is knowing when God is moving the mountain and when we are. It is hard sometimes to stay out of the way. Good post!

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  6. Thanks Frank and Gregg.

    @Gregg ... it is definitely hard to stay out of God's way in order for him to move our mountains. I am waiting patiently for the Lord to move a particular mountain in my life. When He does, I'll let everyone know! Talk with all of you soon.

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  7. Intresting and well written post...i liked it.Please visit my blog also--link is--
    http://childrensheaven.blogspot.com
    Thanks.
    Hemant

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  8. Greetings -

    You got that right...!

    Daniel 4:35
    ...and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

    2 Chronicles 20:6
    And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

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  9. @Lioneagle ... God is all powerful!!!!!!

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  10. Good interesting read thankyou for sharing ~ Ally x

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  11. Morning Judith,
    hope ya have a good day :)

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  12. God can move anything. Enjoyed your blog. I am now one of your new followers via The Old Geezer!

    Jane

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  13. I am visiting from The Old Geezer's blog. I am adding your blog to my blog roll because I sincerely enjoy your writing. Thanks!

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  14. me too, I am a visitor, so the comment on old geezers blog worked, you have some more followers. bless you! and I look forward to reading your blog..
    redx

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  15. Thank you all so much for reading my blog and for your compliments! They really blessed me! When I get out from under my workload at work, I will visit your blogs as well. Have a blessed day!

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  16. Oh, I know for sure He does move mountains!!! He has only recently moved one that blocked my way. There is absolutely no doubt. You have a wonderful blog, my friend!

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  17. Thank you Polly! Have a blessed day!

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  18. Hi Judith- I came here from The Old Geezer's blog. And, yes, God does move mountains... and sometimes the mountains he moves are the little habits and problems we have that seem so insignificant at the time but destroy our lives.

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  19. Hello Judy - I too came here from The Old Geezer's Blog. GOD is AWESOME!

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  20. Thanks for visiting Laura! Nice to meet you!

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  21. Visiting from my new friend The Old Geezer's blog! Nice to meet you and thrilled to say that I am a daughter of the Mountain Mover :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  22. Hi Judith!
    Ron (Old Geezer) mentioned you in his blog - so I decided to come over and visit! LOVE your blog.

    This post was VERY encouraging to me. Just to know that I am not the only believer that struggles...how comforting! Thank you for reminding me of the "mountain moving power" of God, that requires only "mustard seed" faith. He CAN do the impossible. I like to say, with God, it's "Him-possible"!!!

    I am going to follow your blog. Please feel free to visit me, too.

    GOD BLESS!

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  23. Oh my gosh! Thank you all for visiting and leaving me these wonderful sentiments. When I have a free moment, I will definitely come on over and visit your blogs to say hello! God bless you all!

    A new post is coming soon!

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  24. I know I'm late in reading your post, but I'm glad I did. I really needed to hear this. Life seems so difficult sometimes.

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  25. @Jill... you are very welcome. Nice to meet you. I will definitely be visiting your blog soon. I'm burning the midnight oil right now, writing a new post. Thank you so much for visiting. Will be talking to you soon!

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