…For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20, ESV)

The home of my childhood years faced east toward the Cascade mountain range. If I stood tiptoed on the ancient, but tall, baseboard in my room I could just get my chin on the windowsill and watch the sun rise over Mount Hood. We were pretty poor and a trip to those snow-covered slopes was out of the question, even if they were only a short forty-five minute drive away. When the wind blew, which it most often did, the mountain was close enough that the discerning nose could detect the scent of pine trees and snow. It was wonderful, but too distant for my purposes.

I heard the preacher read about the faith of the mustard seed. He went on for some time about how small the mustard seed was and how Jesus promised that if we had just that amount of faith, then we could move mountains. Across the street stood Gresham High School, its recreational facilities fully visible from my front porch. The same window that afforded the beauties of Mt. Hood also served as a birds-eye view of Thursday and Friday night football games. I liked football just fine, my brothers and I played regularly in the side yard, but I really wanted to play in the snow. I figured that I could muster mustard seed faith and that the space of the football field and its adjoining parking facilities would serve quite nicely as the new resting place for my beloved distant mountain.

I believed as hard as I could. I prayed for more belief. The mountain remained right where God placed it. I was confused for I was sure that I certainly had attained at least the minimum to get things started. I thought maybe it took a little time for the faith to take effect. I knew mountain moving must be a chore even for God, so I waited and believed and waited and believed. Mt. Hood remained a remote mock to the measure of my belief.

Mt. Hood’s steadfastness caused me to begin to doubt whether or not I had enough faith to even believe in God, Jesus or the Bible. I wrestled against what, in my heart, I knew to be absolute truth and what, in my head, seemed to fall short of adding up. I talked to some Christians I respected and they told me that faith was blind, that I just had to trust. Anger welled up inside me because many mornings I had squeezed my eyes shut so God could do whatever necessary to move the mountain without my peeking. I trusted God, or at least I thought I did. My quandary remained and doubt grew. Maybe it was all just a big lie.

The grace I found in the midst of my struggle settled, once and for all, the issue of faith. Yes, I still have periods of serious doubt and I question the reality and of God, Jesus, and the truth of the Bible even though I now am charged with teaching others about God and Jesus and the truth of the Bible. Yet, in my continued quest to find the answer to why “my mountain” would not budge I came upon the consistent testimony of God’s revelation regarding faith: faith doesn’t equal belief. Jesus had not provided us a tip on how we could tap into the power of the cosmos and recreate our reality, Jesus had not given us the key to get God to do whatever we wanted, Jesus had simply, clearly and concisely confessed that when our heart is God’s heart and our mind is God’s mind not even a mountain is able to stand. When the follower of Jesus understands that a mountain must make way for God to accomplish his purposes on earth, that mountian will be moved. My selfish, howbeit perfectly reasonable, request to move the mountain closer so I could play had nothing to do with the kingdom of my Sovereign, just the kingdom of my own limited soul.

Faith: the appropriate response to God’s revelation of himself. In my life I have seen more than a few “mountains move” even though Mt. Hood is still where it was majestically perched three decades ago and I look forward to seeing many more mountains pick up their whitened skirts and make way for the coming work of God, for I do possess the faith of a mustard seed.

For more on the Cascade mountain range:  http://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/cascades/cascades_or.htm