Moving Mountains

"But the falling mountain crumbles away, and the rock moves from its place."

Job 14:18

We all face mountains...things in our path that seem insurmountable and impossible to conquer. We all want directions on how to get around this mountain - either how to climb it, or if we're honest, how to just avoid it and go around and miss it altogether. Never do we really want to climb it because from the bottom looking up it seems too big, too immovable, too steep, too hard. So what do we do? And how do we answer others, especially our kids, when they ask us for directions on how to move a mountain? The Lord spoke to me this week about this and I'd like to share.

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First, I would like to tell you that both of my boys have severe food allergies. They consist of nuts, eggs, shellfish, and milk. My youngest son, Jonah, is the one allergic to milk, and for us, it's by far the hardest to manage. On top of the food allergies, he has been diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, or CVS. About a year ago, Jonah started vomiting for no apparent reason. The vomiting is very intense, violent, fall in the floor, us begging him to breathe kind of vomiting. We had never seen anything like this. After ruling out a virus, or flu, we thought he might be allergic to something new, but he wasn't. Just when we thought of going further with testing, it disappeared. No more vomiting. He was fine. The second or third time this so called virus appeared and then magically went away, we began to dig deeper - asking questions, doing research, and having our doctor help us determine what this was. After ruling out other things, it was determined that Jonah has CVS, which is a cyclical syndrome that comes and goes. Fast forward to about a month ago, and Jonah began complaining about bad headaches and severe abdominal pain, which we now know are called abdominal migraines. This last cycle has lasted for a month. It's hard on Jonah. He misses school, his food allergies become more sensitive, his head and stomach hurt. I think the worst part for him is that it comes on so suddenly, with barely enough time to make it to the bathroom, and the fact that it is so hard and violent for him. So we pray. We pray that the cycle ends quickly. We pray that there are no headaches and stomach pain. We pray he's able to go to school. We pray that the Lord removes the food allergies from both boys. But here's the thing I was so concerned about last week when it seemed so bad - I was worried that Jonah was discouraged with God because the cycle was still continuing. So I asked him. His sweet, precious, 10-year-old little heart said, "Well, no, mom, I'm not discouraged. We just need to keep praying!" Wow! He said it like he could not believe I had even asked the question. The Bible says in Matthew 18:3-4, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4) Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (NIV) Jonah was showing me he had faith. He believes his prayers are being heard, and he showed me how patiently he is waiting. 

Then this is what God did next. I stumbled across a story about a church in the Smoky Mountains that had just built a new building. They were a very excited congregation. Ten days before the dedication of the new building, an inspector came by and told the Pastor they would not be able to open as scheduled because they did not have adequate parking for the size of their church building. The Pastor explained that it took every inch of their land and they had no room left to expand the parking lot because there were other buildings on each side and a mountain in the back. The inspector said he was sorry, but they would not be allowed to hold their dedication service or open their new building. The Pastor decided to hold a prayer meeting, a mountain moving prayer time. About 30 members of the 300 member congregation met and they prayed for three hours. The Pastor was so moved and told the members to plan on showing up for the dedication service as planned, that God had not brought them that far to just quit. He told them to have faith. So the next week as the Pastor was in his office, someone knocked on his door. He opened it to a construction worker who explained that they were working over in the town next to them and needed some fill-dirt. He said they needed it right then and asked if they could remove dirt from the mountain that sat behind the church. He told the Pastor that in exchange for the dirt, his company would pave and concrete the area free of charge! The Pastor agreed, smiled, and the dedication service was held on the original Sunday. He told his members that God moved the mountain! He said the moral of this whole situation was that faith was not the absence of doubt, but the presence of belief! 

This has moved me in a mighty way. Jesus tells us in Mark 11:23, "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." (NIV) This church believed and God moved a mountain! I could not wait to share this story with Jonah. I told him just how much he had taught me with his faith and that I believed God showed us this story for a reason. Matthew 17:20 says, "Because you have so little faith, Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." See, a mustard seed is tiny, smaller than all other seeds. God isn't asking us to have an enormous sized faith. He picked the smallest seed of all and told us that if we had the smallest size faith in our heart, we could have the biggest outcomes. I explained to Jonah that God's ways are higher than our ways, and that He ultimately has the perfect plan for us. God's plan might be for Jonah to use his allergies and CVS to help others and give glory to God. But God's plan might be to remove these allergies and this CVS from his body. We don't know the plan, but we have learned this week through what God has shown us, that we don't have to know the plan. We just have to trust, to have faith, and to believe. Psalm 121:1-2 says, "I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? 2) My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." (NIV)

Our help is in God alone. Our help comes from Him. Our faith is in Him alone, even if it's just a tiny amount. But God is so good and so big, that He doesn't ask the impossible from us, He does the impossible for us! Hallelujah! 

So my family has fully committed to praying for the boys, that the allergies will be completely removed from their bodies, and that Jonah will never have another CVS cycle again. We give God glory already for what He's done - for allowing us to understand what CVS is, what the allergies are and how to deal with them. We praise Him for allowing us the faith to pray for a miracle. And we give Him glory and praise for whatever the outcome! I praise Him for showing me a deeper side to the heart of my son, the faith he possesses as a little child in his prayers to a very big God. I thank God that He can move mountains...literally! 

I love Him and all He is and all He means to me. I pray you know Him, too. I pray you accept Him as your Savior so you can watch Him move the mountains in your life, whatever they may be. It only takes faith the size of a mustard seed. 

I'll update you and talk to you all soon. But for now, we'll just keep on talkin' about everything Under the Son. :)

"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:2

I love you all,

Kacey