August 4, 2012
WHEN THE MOUNTAIN DON'T MOVE
I never thought of the day. For the first time my mom pushed me in the wheelchair in the mall today. My dad, brother, and a family friend went to play golf, leaving me, my mom, and the family friend's wife. We went to my favorite cafe to have lunch and then my mom drove us to the mall for shopping and walking. I never could have walked in the mall and was glad to have the chair, but the fact that I was in a wheelchair in the mall for the first time made me realize how impossible this healing thing is. I really felt it today. I wasn't totally discouraged today because I got to spend time outside for lunch, the mall, and for dinner. It is so healing to be outside and around other people even when I don't know the people. I still nevertheless was discouraged during parts of the day.
"Sometimes life gets so tough that even the most faith-filled Christian has difficulty summoning the faith to pray for a breakthrough. It doesn't matter how many Bible verses you have memorized or how much God has blessed you in the past. A difficult problem or a heartbreaking set of circumstances suddenly mushrooms into a huge, immovable mountain, whose shadow makes it hard for you to envision how God will answer your prayer.
All of us, from the strongest to the weakest, experience such times. But rather than allowing our mountains, however massive, to become obstacles to prayer, we can turn them into opportunities to learn valuable lessons about our level of spiritual maturity and our need to go deeper with God in prayer."
This is so true. I have seen God come through for me in the past. I don't doubt His existence. That is not my problem. Right now, I doubt His goodness and faithfulness. The problem of my health situations seem mountainous. Add on my continued joblessness and singleness challenges, then life for me gets increasingly overwhelming. This chapter like the previous one is timely. What do we do when we face these mountains which our prayers cannot move.
"Such times of trial and difficulty remind us of two great challenges regarding the prayer of faith. The first challenge is to believe that no situation, however evil or entrenched, is beyond the scope of prayer. In theory we know that God can do anything, but many of us fail to trust him when it comes time to pray for specific people or situations. Instead of looking to the Lord for help, we keep our eyes on the problem, which grows bigger the longer we gaze at it. We don't pray seriously about such problems because they just seem too big, too hard, or too complex for prayer to resolve.
Though we may mentally affirm the promises of Scripture, we fail to lean on them. Reluctant to come before the throne of grace to receive the help God promises, we worry, complain, live in fear and depression, ask others for advice—anything and everything but go to the Lord in prayer. Even we preachers are guilty of this, though we preach every Sunday about an omnipotent God!
The second hurdle is the waiting. Most of us hate to be kept waiting for an answer to prayer. We've asked the Lord to intervene, and we want immediate results. What's taking him so long? We feel as though we're holding on for dear life, but the situation hasn't changed one iota. In fact, it's gotten worse! How long do we have to wait? Is God even interested in us? Does he care about our problems?
Without learning the secret of how to wait in faith, many of us become spiritually fatigued as we pray. We may start doubting whether God's promises apply to our particular situation."
The author presents us with two challenges. Indeed my eyes are on the problem. And the problem seems to grow bigger each day. However, the issue for me is that I do pray, continually and often with faith but sometimes with doubt and discouragement. Can God really help? Does God really care? These are the questions I wrestle with. Sometimes I wonder if God gets tired of hearing from me. The second problem is equally hard. Waiting, for anything is difficult. What is taking God so long? I read through the Psalms of God answering prayer, that God helps us and so on. I have began doubting some of those promises more and more. I see how so many turn away from the faith when going through difficulties and finding that God seemed uncaring and cold. The author provides one remedy to facing prayer challenges.
"The next time you are faced with an insurmountable problem, I'd advise you to look into the heavens on a clear night. The evidence of God's greatness is right above your head. Scientists say there are about 7,000 stars visible to the naked eye, though only about 2,000 of these can be seen at any one time and place. So even on the clearest night you see less than a third of all the stars visible to people around the world. But that's not the end of it. Recent studies indicate that there are far more stars than the eye can see, perhaps 200 billion—that's 200,000,000,000—in our own galaxy, and the Milky Way is just one of millions of galaxies! Though no one knows exactly how many stars there are, one estimate puts the number at three thousand million billion stars— a three with sixteen zeroes behind it.
As God assures us, the "heavens are the work of [his] hands" (Psalm 102:25). He merely "commanded and they were created" (Psalm 148:5). Just one word from him, and three thousand million billion stars came into being.
What's more, Scripture tells us that God "determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name" (Psalm 147:4). Think about it! What "big" problem are you facing right now that is too hard for him? What possible need is beyond his ability to supply?"
God made the heavens. He made the stars in their vast amount. Just going outside and going to the beach and standing on the edge near the water we can feel incredibly small. Creation reminds uf how big God is. Yet, for me, being reminded how big God is does not help. God can create stars and oceans, but in my situation, can God bring help? Is God interested in my situation? The author turns to another powerful story of a bleak situation of a girl from Haiti. She faced an entire childhood of sexual abuse and rejection from family. She found herself in New York and seduced by a security guard at the age of twelve. He would father two of her children. She had no money and no place to go as she was living with the security guard 24 years her senior. The author got in contact with a ministry for teen women with life challenges and God changed her life:
"What a tender, compassionate God we have! That day he was gracious, not only to a broken young woman from Haiti, but also to a pastor whose faith had begun to falter. No wonder our God is called "Wonderful, Counselor" (Isaiah 9:6 kjv)!
About a year later, I preached in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the church George pastors. Farah was in church that day, and it was the first time I had seen her since she left New York. Before I spoke, she asked if I would dedicate her infant son that evening. She handed me her child as I stood behind the pulpit, and I'll never forget the radiant, joyful look on her face. No one in the congregation could understand the emotion I felt as I held that baby in my arms and lifted my voice to God. As I prayed, Farah stood with her hands held high in worship, thanking the One who had done so much for her. It was all too much for me. I wept aloud and unashamedly.
Because of what the Lord has done in her life, Farah knows there is no limit to God's power. She understands that he is always ready to help those who call out to him in believing prayer. Like a father who pities his children, the Lord always listens to our cries. His power and love, as Farah later told that congregation in New Hampshire, can heal us in places only he can touch.
Through God's forgiveness, Farah has learned to forgive herself and others. Despite a past filled with the worst kind of abuse, she is not bitter in spirit but tender and loving. Like someone who has been raised from the dead, she has been given a future full of hope. The hurting, little girl who craved a sense of "family" is now surrounded by God's love made real through others."
What a remarkable difference. Before she was mistreated and abused by the men in her life and God led her to a community of men and women who loved her unconditionally. The life transformation of the Gospel replaced her discouragement with hope and worship and praise. God restored hope into her hopeless situation. As I write this, tonight we had dinner with my brother's parents-in-law. I am not their son-in-law, but their love for me is touching. They have prayed for my health condition and at dinner said that they are confident that God will heal. They also spoke to my jobless situation and that God will provide in His time. So far, it has not been the right time. I left dinner feeling a renewed sense of hope after spending time with people of faith who spoke words of hope and encouragement about God's faithfullness.
"Keep holding onto the Lord today no matter
how you feel, no matter how bad things get.
God wants you to know that his answers are always worth waiting for! But remember, while you're waiting, Satan might whisper that you are alone and forsaken. Never forget God's word of assurance: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isaiah 49:15). And again, "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).
Keep holding onto the Lord today no matter how you feel, no matter how bad things get.
People can't always be relied on, sometimes not even family members. But God will never fail us. The Bible says, "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4). The truth of God's faithfulness was so ingrained on King David's heart that he reminded himself of it with these words: "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5 NKJV). David was encouraged the same way as Isaiah later on—because the Lord had promised that "they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me" (Isaiah 49:23 nkjv). No man or woman has ever been let down by trusting in God!
If you have been waiting for an answer to prayer for a long time, remember that long waits often occur right before the biggest mountains come down. Keep praying
and don't give in to the doubt or fear that tells you "this situation is impossible" or "that person will never change" or "it's just too late." Instead of letting Satan have the last word in the battle to believe, speak it yourself, borrowing from God's own word in Scripture: "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made" (Psalm 145:13)."
Prayer:
Father, it is so difficult when huge mountains are not removed after months of prayer. This chapter and my time with the Tongs was so encouraging. I long to see these huge mountains come down. I face challenges I cannot handle on my own. My health, my joblessness, and my singleness. You allow me to be in situations I cannot solve. Not even those around me can help solve my impossible situations. God only You have a record of doing the impossible from eternity past till now. I've been so discouraged at times and depressed. I have began doubting Your promises, goodness, and love. Help me to see Your kindness when I'm starting to lose sight of You. Remind me that You care, and that You are able to remove these huge mountains in front of me.
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