Don't focus on the Mountain

Hello Everyone!

I hope that the December month is treating you all well! Things are finally starting to slow down for me. After next Sunday, I will be able to take a break for a couple of weeks from teaching Bible Studies. I love doing it, but it will be good to just relax, recharge my batteries, and also get my focus re-aligned. Speaking of which, there was something I read that I wanted to share with you.

I am currently reading the book, "Too Busy Not to Pray" by Bill Hybels. I am not finished with it, but I would already recommend it as a great resource if you are looking to improve your prayer life. I was reading something today that really made me think and reflect. Hybels quoted the verse in Matthew 21:21-22:

"Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

One of the first points he makes about this passage is that, "Faith comes by looking at God, not at the mountain." This was very interesting to me. I have heard different Bible studies on this verse, various sermons, but this was a very unique perspective. The purpose of this passage wasn't that you can move a mountain, but saying that there is power in prayer. The thing is you need to have faith and don't doubt which is where Hybels comes in with this first point.

After I read that, I had to sit and reflect on it for a moment. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain. How often do we focus on the mountain rather than God? We think about a sin that we are struggling with and we focus on the sin. We look at what it is, what caused it, practical steps to battle it, etc. It gets to the point that we focus so much on the sin that we forget the person who can free us from it. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain. Or say that we are serving in a ministry. We get all the statistics, find creative ways to present the information, read all the theories, get great curriculum, etc. We can get lost in that and focus on the mountain instead of focusing on God's truth and letting that work. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain.

In my life, I think that is a really big problem for me. I focus too much on the mountain and figure out how to move it instead of looking at God the one who not only put the mountain there but knows how to move it, when to move it, and why it should or shouldn't be moved. Faith comes from looking at God, not at the mountain.