By: Melvin R. Springfield
“if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and it shall be done.” – Matthew 21:21
You have heard this verse, and others like it, quoted to you since the day you first started walking with God. Mountains of problems cast into the sea! Barriers and obstacles dashed in pieces!
But it seems we have a problem here! You can’t start casting certain students or the school’s administrator into the sea! How do you move the mountain just enough the get through, without wrecking the whole scenic view?
Let me offer you “8 steps of mountain moving faith.” To see the mountain removed requires YOU and God working together. There are things God expects you to do in the process, for God does the impossible, but expects you to do the possible. What should we do? Let’s look at the eight steps:
1. DREAMING the creative idea!
If you don’t have a dream, how can dreams come true? Imagine yourself doing great things for God. Go ahead, and let your imagination go. Reach into the realm of “things hoped for,” and grab hold of things, regardless of how impossible they may seem.
Remember, you aren’t the only one involved with this. God is your partner. It just could be that the “impossible dream” is really the “possible dream” that everyone else has believed could not be done, but God is appointing you to be the one to open the door of faith, so that God can show his greatness.
Refuse to look at things with your eyes only. Try to see it like God might look at it! It changes the outlook considerably then. Don’t be afraid to dream! The Bible is full of dreamers – Abraham, Jacob, Joseph… and now you!
2. DESIRING
Just how much do you want this, anyway! More faith is shattered by lack of desire than by real doubt. If it is something you want very much, “where there’s a will, there’s a way!” God will supply, but we must apply. Go ahead, and ask God for it! “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
Psalm 27:4-5.
3. DARING
Be willing to run the risk! A man who insists upon seeing with perfect clarity before he decides, never decides. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Even a turtle doesn’t get ahead unless he stick his neck out.
“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. Remember, this is not trying to inform God about the situation. He already knows every detail. What you are doing is making a statement before God
that clarifies things for YOU, and boils the dream down into a package with a handle on it.
Don’t be afraid of red tape. There will be plenty. When red tape is made nutritional, we will be able to feed the world! God is a terrific tape-cutter. Leave that to Him.
Don’t be afraid of aggravation. If you have a job without aggravation, you don’t have a job. Just keep the desire greater that the detours, and dare to take the risk. “If God be for us, who can be against us.”
4. BEGINNING
Mountain moving must start somewhere. The trip around the world starts with the first step. Do something! You can’t get much done by starting tomorrow. The first step in making a dream come true is to WAKE UP! The GET UP! Footprints in the sands of time are never made sitting down. We often wait
for God to do something, when in truth, God is waiting for us to do something. The Bible teaches that God will confirm the Word with “signs following.” We want the bridge before we get to the river, but that’s not God’s way of doing things. The simple truth is that when people wait around for someone else to get things started, things seldom get started.
5. EXPECTING
Plan on things happening! Reach up as far as you can, and God will reach down the rest of the way. Some fount of wisdom once uttered these words: “Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God.” If what you have been dreaming of is according to God’s Word, go ahead and act as if you already have the answer on the way. The Apostle Paul never look for red stop signs. He assumed that the light was always green, and if God wanted things stopped, He would say so. Push the Go button, and believe that your Partner will do His part.
6. AFFIRMING
Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Not “who” strengthenth me, but “which” meaning that the statement and declaration that “I can do all things through Christ” will be that constant strength. The dreamer will consistently strengthen himself by
affirming his partnership with God.
Faith that produces, is faith that is repeated. Faith that dies is that faith which is not continually affirmed.
Keep affirming the partnership, even when things may seem to be slow in coming, or even fail in early attempts. Character consists of what you do on the 3rd or 4th tries.
7. WAITING
This is the toughest part of dreams coming to life. Give me patience, God, and I want it NOW! Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears. The law of sowing and reaping runs on God’s pre-set schedule. Plant the seeds, then give them time to come up. Believe that God knows what He is doing, and what He is doing is just what we need, after all. Get the seed in the ground, and let God do the miracle of bringing the seed to life. But, don’t be afraid to water the seeds once in a while.
8. ACCEPTING
Don’t be afraid of what comes with your dream. When the dream comes true, make sure you give your Partner the credit. Don’t strut your humility!
When the dream fades away, don’t quit dreaming! There are thousands of things that may try to frustrate the moving of the mountain. Has it occurred to you that it could be that the mountain doesn’t need to be moved, after all, but that you just need to change your vantage point of vision. “Mount up on wings as eagles,” and the mountain often becomes not quite so difficult, after all.
(The above material appeared in a January/February 1990 issue of The Journal of Christian Education.)
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