Faith that moves
“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matt 17:20
As we get closer to the launch of Central Community Church, I find myself amazed at how faithful God has been. Occasionally, I lift my head up and look back at what God has done. When I do I’m always surprised to see how much of a mountain God has moved. In just over a month, we are going to gather publicly for the very first time as a church! That’s amazing!
One thing I am learning on this adventure is what it means to have faith that “moves mountains”. I thought for a long time, that this kind of faith would be much more sensational than it turns out to be. After all, what’s more exciting than to see big things happen, like a mountain moving? Yet, I have come to realize that my assumptions are a little off. I think this is because I often mistake faith as a power I possess, instead of faith-filled obedience to Jesus’ power, the one who actually moves the mountains.
I am also learning that mountain-moving faith takes time, another correction to my assumptions. If I had it my way, I would like to see mountains move in a day. After all, shouldn’t strong faith yield such results? Unfortunately, this rushed perspective simply doesn’t work in God’s kingdom. How many times have we sacrificed the real miracles of God, because we wanted to see something spectacular now? Can you imagine if Jesus yielded to such shortsighted demands when he was on the earth? For example, when Jesus was on the cross, some people were taunting him to display his power by miraculously coming down off the cross. Aren’t you glad that he didn’t? Our redemption was accomplished with a long-term view in mind. Talk about moving a mountain!
So how about you? Are you trying to move some mountains on your own, relying on your own faith, more than Jesus who is calling you? Do you need to be reminded that God has a long-term view of your life, and you can patiently trust him in the meantime?
As we continue on this incredible adventure of starting CCC, as mountains continue to move right before our very eyes, my hope and prayer is that as a community we will always remember that our faith is a very small part of the process (a mustard seed), and our true gaze needs to remain patiently fixed on the Mountain Mover himself.
Can’t wait to look back again in a few months…
– By Jeff Neuenschwander