ONE SCOOP AT A TIME

For as long as I can remember, a “For Sale” sign was posted on the corner of a busy intersection in my neighborhood. Until now, the lot seemed impossible to build upon due to dense mature trees atop a massive 40-foot-high hill. I pass this corner everyday on my way to work and recently noticed the sign was gone. Tree removal equipment was working at the lower end of the property and progress was happening. The hundreds of trees were stripped of their branches and loaded onto logging trucks to be sold for lumber. Clearing the land was a wonder to observe.

About a month later, Caterpillar excavating cranes with notched treads climbed the daunting hill and began to dig. The drivers dug out the tree roots, lifting them into dump trucks that hauled the debris away. Next, they removed about 20 feet of topsoil from the hill and finally the bottom layers of shale rock. Soon, the entire 10-acre tract was leveled and made ready for storm sewer pipes. Someone or some company had bought the property and figured out how to level that hill one scoop at a time.

That towering untamed lot can signify the magnitude of what we see when God calls us to His purposes and gives us an assignment to fulfill. Along with the wonder of the work, we may perceive an impossible task with lots of obstacles in the way. So it is for any child of God who shows up to serve the glorious Master of heaven and earth. God achieves glory and honor by performing impossible feats through us. “And looking upon them Jesus said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26) Like building on that wooded hill, we are called to accomplish tasks that are way beyond our physical ability to do.

The crisis of belief we may face is in convincing ourselves that God is involved and present enough to give us the resources and supernatural power to do it. To achieve that type of faith, let’s look at a few Bible passages that deal with rocky obstacles to overcome. Famously, Jesus told His followers, “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.’” (Mark 11: 23) Taken by itself, the imagery of this statement conjures a picture in our mind of a mountain being uprooted and thrown into the depths of the sea. With this word picture, I believe Jesus wanted us to see the sheer power of what that would entail.

Now in context, Jesus began this teaching by first saying, “Is it not written ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations…’” (Mark 11:17) He was quoting the prophet Jeremiah who chided the religious leaders of that time to return to the calling of worship and prayer. When we do that and take on those hefty, nation-changing directives, we then step into the arena of the miraculous where all things are possible.

Jesus hones that broad message by saying, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22) When we catch the vision of God’s purposes for us, we must shift our belief off ourselves and onto God, considering Him able to perform it. Bible commentary notes that the phrase “Say to this mountain, ‘Move.’” Is meant to be taken figuratively and represents the practical obstacles that get in our way. These would be our “But, but, but’s” that we have swirling in our mind. The phrase “do not doubt” means that we are to deny those objections and climb higher in our thoughts, like those Caterpillar tractors scaling that hill.

To seal that kind of faith, let’s go backward and then forward. In Numbers 20:8, we find Moses leading the nation of Israel through their trek in the desert. God positions Moses to perform a miracle in their sight to boost their faith. God tells Moses to take his staff and speak to the rock to procure water for the thirst nation. Unfortunately, Moses refuses God’s command and, instead, strikes the rock twice instead of speaking to it. Water miraculously gushed out, but Moses had decided that a degree of human force was needed to perform the miracle. He was wrong.

Now looking ahead, when God’s judgment of the planet comes, there will be a time when mountains will literally be displaced. “And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” (Revelation 6:14)

We stand between Moses addressing the rock and the earth’s surface enduring drastic destruction. We need to adjust our thinking to know that God is able to do what He says He will do. Don’t trust in your own power, your own strength or your own ability to figure things out. That is the first mountain that must be moved before your path can be supernaturally cleared.

With God all things are possible! His power over nature, circumstances and obstacles must be planted firmly in your mind. Trust God to make a way for you and watch Him move your mountains one scoop at a time!