Moving Mountains

I’ve always wondered what Jesus meant in Matthew 17:20

“I tell you the truth, 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.”

My first question: how big is a mustard seed? Wikipedia says

Mustard seeds of the various mustard plants are among the smallest of seeds. The seeds are about 3mm in diameter, and may be colored from yellowish white to black.

That’s a very small amount of faith God requires of me.

My second question: how can my small faith move A MOUNTAIN?

I told God – it’s impossible! And our dearest Abba Father, who knows all his creation so well, gives His answer in the latter part of the verse ‘Nothing will be impossible for you.’ God is faithful. He kept His Word and showed me how it was done.

My first mountain might seem trivial to you but to me, it was nevertheless, a mountain which I didn’t know how to talk to, let alone tell it to move. One thing on my To-Do List is to replenish my underwear. I really like the current ones which I bought a couple of years back at one of the stalls before Chinese New Year (CNY) and I hope to buy back the same ones. As I didn’t get it from established stores like John Little or Metro, I didn’t know where to begin looking. I had bought some from renowned stores but they didn’t last long. Hence, I began to pray secretly (you can’t really tell everyone to pray about something so personal like this, right?) about finding good and comfortable underwear that are good value for money.

Everywhere I went, I asked God where I should look. One weekend, as I was browsing the stalls that were selling all kinds of things during this festive season, I was prompted to stop and look at one stall selling undergarments. The lady was very kind and suggested the size and colours that would be most suitable. Since the price was rather reasonable, I decided that the risk is small and convinced myself that my new underwear would be just as comfortable as my old ones. When I went home, I realised that I had actually purchased my favourite underwear!! I saw how my HUGE mountain was moved!! It’s the power of prayer! It’s the Power of God!! I was reminded of what faith is in Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Another mountain that stopped us in our tracks was getting a bicycle for Li-Ann. She has outgrown her tricycle but hasn’t quite learnt how to cycle independently yet. We have looked around and found the new bicycles rather pricey. Although Li-Ann knew we were looking for a bicycle for her, she didn’t show any interest at all and was reluctant to sit on any of them. We were also not  confident that she would be motivated to  ride a new bike even though LA’s PT had seen how she could cycle without help for a short distance on the tricycle during therapy. I asked God many questions – why she still can’t cycle, how can I motivate her and what type of bike we should get for her. While I didn’t have all the answers, Li-Ann’s PT gave very good tips on how to strengthen LA physically. We have also decided we will not get any bike for LA for now.

One evening, CM came back and told me excitedly (rarely does he show his excitement) that someone was selling a used bike for children 7 years and under for only $5 – that was awfully cheap and sounded too good to be true! This person stayed nearby too. Our whole family went to look at the bike. We liked the bike. It is perfect for LA:-D It’s of the right height and its condition is pretty good; some parts of the bike still has the protective plastic on. All CM had to do was to fit the training wheels on, which we already have at home. And IT IS $5. The funny thing was LA took to the bike almost immediately; when we brought it home, she wanted to sit on it and even told daddy that she wanted a basket and bell like her Jie Jie. We were so comforted by her positive response. We thank God for His providence – so appropriate and so timely. I can’t say that we have a lot of faith (it may be smaller than the mustard seed), but because we asked, God moved this mountain too. Praise the Lord!!

You know what’s another common mountain my family face? No parking lots. Whenever we know we are going to a place where parking is a problem, we will ask the children to pray. In unison, they always shout out,’Thank you God for the parking lot!’ Again, the children prayed at lunchtime today as we waited to enter this car park that offered free parking on Sundays and Public Holidays. As CM made a left turn into one part of the car park, I spotted a parking lot. We couldn’t believe our eyes, wondering why no one took the lot (because God kept it for us!!!). After confirming it was a legal parking lot, CM quickly parked the car. WOW!! It was such an encouragement to the children’s faith and ours too. HURRAY! Another mountain moved 🙂

God taught me this-

My job: Put my minute mustard-seed faith in my God

God’s job: Carry out His work as my Mighty Mountain Mover

Now I know why nothing is impossible for me – I have the Mighty Mountain Mover.

Can’t move your mountains?

Got a cell phone? Dial J-E-R-E-M-I-A-H 3-3:3

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

The Mighty Mountain Mover is ever ready to get to work.

Nothing is impossible for Him.

Amen!