Monday, March 12, 2007
Moving Mountains
Some pastor friends of ours are in the early stages of a building campaign for their church. If you are a church-goer, and have at any time been a part of something like that, you know that everyone is asked to make a sacrifice of their time, money and talent, to see that work accomplished. Hank and I walked New Community Church through a building project a few years ago when we needed to repair our sanctuary. It was a challenging but rewarding process. We saw God truly work miracles in our finances, as well as in the lives and finances of our parishioners.
It's a unique experience. Being challenged to do something that, on paper, looks impossible. But being obedient to what one believes is God's challenge, and then to trust Him to make it all work out.
Last year some friends of ours in Washington state started their building challenge. The company that is orchestrating their capital campaign offered them several ideas for the promotion and 'sale' of their vision--the vision of their church. What they felt led to embrace has had a tremendous impact on me personally.
At the kick-off dinner, the focus of the evening was to give folks an opportunity to pledge what they felt the Lord would enable them to give over the coming two years. As they prayed over their commitment cards, they were then directed to take the card and deposit it into a box.
Surrounding the box was a variety of rocks. Creek rocks, really. Some large. Some small. Some smooth. Some jagged.
The point of all this was: God can move mountains, even if it's one stone at a time. Naturally, at this particular event, it was meant to apply to the financial picture of those attending--that God would move mountains in order to enable each family to give sacrificially to this fundraising effort.
When my friend shared this with me, it struck a chord. And the next day, I went out to Kanner Lake, and found a rock. I picked a pretty good-sized rock, because God had begun to stir some things in my heart about trusting Him. And I knew that in some ways, that was a big rock to move.
To this day I hold that rock in my hand during my morning prayer time. There is nothing mystical or magical about the rock, but it is merely a physical reminder that the Lord is at work in my life, moving my mountains one rock at a time. Sometime those mountains are blasted out of the way, almost miraculously, and other times, He just does it one rock at a time, over time.
After that first rock-hunting trip, I've made a few more. And I've given a box of rocks to several families in our church: to the young father whose wife elected weight-loss surgery to win a battle over a lifetime of obesity, only to "discover" a new side of herself that needed freedom. She walked out and left him with their two young boys. This daddy needs God to move mountains. God will.
To the woman in our church whose father was in a terrible car crash. More than once this father was not given a shred of hope for survival, or any quality of life if he did survive. But he's still with them, improving every day. God is moving stones.
To the couple who had a fire in their home, only to receive the news the next day that the wife has a early-stage uterine cancer. God is moving stones for them, one at a time.
We may not see Him at work, but we can rest assured that He is working. When we can't hear Him, He's at work. When we can't feel Him, He's at work. Always. Never sleeping. Continuously aware of every little detail of our lives, and working to bring all things together for our good. Sometimes He actually moves the mountain, and sometimes He just gives us the strength to get over the mountain.
Know this: the mountains you see all around you are nothing to the One whose strength is great.
This week, maybe you ought to find yourself a rock. Or two. Put them in places where you'll see them often during your busy day. Let those rocks remind you that God is moving mountains on your behalf. Sometimes the wait is long, but in the meantime you are becoming stronger. And one day you'll realize the mountain isn't in your horizon any more.
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Read the personal blog of the author of this post.
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