He Can Move the Mountains

How big is God? Isn't it interesting how small we make Him? How incapable? Doesn't sound too good huh? But the truth of it is, we all limit God. We bind Him up by clinging to our sinful nature and our pasts. We doubt Him. We say that we give Him control over the things in our lives that we struggle with but then we rip it right back out of His hands. We want Him to make our future better than our pasts, but we don't really believe He will. Our disbelief in such things manifests itself in our words, actions, and thoughts.

For example: Let me tell you about someone who struggles with shrinking God and making Him smaller than her HUGE problems. (And no, for those of you who always wonder, and sometimes ask, it's not me and it's not you that I am writing about.) I'll call her Shannon. Shannon has a long string of broken relationships in her past. She has shacked-up with several men over the years. She's made commitments that she didn't honor. She's lied, cheated, manipulated, and hurt men she said she loved. She also allowed the same to be done to her repeatedly. She's never had a healthy relationship of any kind in her whole life, not even with her family. She wants one. She longs for love, acceptance, companionship, partnership, romance, honesty...she wants the real deal. She's prayed for it. She's changed her ways. She's tried the relationship-thing again a few times, but for one reason or another they've all bombed.

What do you think she's thinking today? Well, in this case she has decided that while God "might" bless her with a good relationship with a man, she knows that there will be significant issues and significant "lacking" areas because she's still a sinner (aren't we all), and because of her dysfunctional past and loathsome past behaviors. She says she's a new creation in Christ, but yet, because she is still not perfect in all that she does, she submits in defeat and gives up on having successful and beautiful relationship with a Godly man. How silly. She says her God is the God of the universe, with NOTHING He cannot do, NOTHING too "messed up" for Him to bless...but without actually saying it in these exact words she doesn't believe He will do that for HER. She puts limitations on what her future relationship will be. She fears that their sex life will be a struggle because of a rape, plus her mangled sexual past, and because of current internal struggles. She says that she is afraid that she'll fall into old routines, past behaviors, because you see, she is still a sinner. (Yeah, well, Shannon, who isn't?) Her concerns and fears go on and on. What's that about? Faith is faith. Belief in things yet unseen! For her, a Godly and blessed earthly relationship has yet to be seen. A prince has not rode up to her front door on his white stallion and whisked her away to his castle. It's as if, if it appears in her life in any other format, she's not going to believe it. It's like it has to be a fairy-tale for her to believe it is from God. That is the only way she sees God will handle all of those fears and issues. God being able to "handle" those issues she mentions is just not real for her, it is fairy-tale. She says she believes in a God who can handle everything...that He can move mountains...but what she's really saying is He can move mountains...just not hers.

That breaks my heart. Oh ye of little faith. I just want to say to people sometimes..."Stop saying you believe this or that if you don't really believe it!" HE IS GOD. HE CAN BLESS ANYTHING...EVEN SHANNON and her future relationship. He can turn a train wreck into a miraculous blessing. He can and will...ONLY if we give it over to Him and leave it with Him. Ripping it back out of His hands is not an option. We have to give it over to Him and let it go and allow Him to change us, our lives, our tendencies, and our future. Our junk and funk is not stronger or bigger than Him. Our mountains are not too heavy for Him to move. But He will not move them until we've given them to Him FULLY.

In what way are you limiting the God of the universe? In what ways do your words of faith not match up with what you really believe in the depths of your heart? Is it recovery from an addiction(s)? Is it healing a broken marriage? Is it financial? Is it an estranged friendship or family relationship? Don't you know--He CAN move mountains... even yours...WHATEVER they may be!! All you have to have is faith. Even faith as small as a mustard seed (and that is teeny tiny). Step away from the mountain, don't not let yourself keep reclaiming it...stand back IN FAITH and watch Him move it miles and miles away from you! He can...and will, but only if you let Him.