“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Faith.
It’s such a simple word, yet it holds inexplicable power. A kind of unpretentious power that has confounded the wisdom of mankind since the beginning.
Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, and if that wasn’t enough of an awe inspiring event, they also heard the voice of God the Father.
Suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified. Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone. Matthew 17:5-8
After everything these three disciples had experienced up on that mountaintop…
After hearing God exclaim, “Listen to Him!”…
Of all the things Jesus could have chosen to say in that pivotal moment, He said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”
God has used this verse in my life this week in a big way. I have been putting something off that I know He has called me to do. I’ve been continually making excuses and pushing it to the back burner.
I needed to hear the words, “Get up; don’t be afraid.”
When God speaks into our lives — when we know He is calling us to do something and fear has us face down on the ground, WE NEED Jesus to get our attention and tell us, “Get up; Don’t be afraid,“ drawing our focus back to Him alone — just as He did for Peter, James and John.
Jesus knows that when we look up and focus on Him, it’s easier to move forward in obedience, to move out of our comfort zone and accomplish what God has told us to do.
He knows we can still be terrified, even after we’ve seen God do miraculous things.
And He certainly knows that we can be weak and fleshy when our eyes are focused on what’s going on around us instead of Him alone.
Jesus wanted Peter, James and John to refocus on Him — to get up and not be afraid to walk with Him off that mountain and back to what God had called them to do — to follow Jesus and minister to the least of these, in Jesus’ name.
When they reached the crowds, a man approached Jesus and asked Him to help his son who had seizures that would cause him harm. Then he adds, “I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” Matthew 17:16
Jesus’ response is a bit surprising… Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed. Matthew 17:17-18
You unbelieving and perverse generation?
It’s difficult for us to look at verses like this without shaking our heads and wondering how they still didn’t get it. How did those who listened to Jesus teach and watched Him perform so many miracles still struggle with unbelief?
How is it that their faith was still hindered?
I can only imaging Peter, James and John’s faces at that moment. They had just witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration and heard God speak from a cloud. They must have been thinking, “Is He talking to me?” Or perhaps, “Surely He’s not talking to me!”
Perverse? Really? That seems a bit harsh.
But Jesus knew the hearts and thoughts of those around Him. He could see that they still willfully resisted the truth.
The ugly truth about our sinful nature is something we don’t like to think about, much less admit to others, but it’s there. It’s always there.
The disciples wanted clarity. Like us, they wanted to know, “Why?” What is it that hindered them from doing what Jesus had told them to do?
Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19-20
Now that’s the kind of faith I want!
A mountain moving faith.
An unhindered faith.
Unhindered by unbelief and willful disobedience.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of defaulting to a “give me strength to make it over that mountain again,” unproductive, powerless faith.
It’s time to, “Get up; don’t be afraid,” focus on Jesus alone and tell those mountains to move!
That mountain of fear
That mountain of self doubt
That mountain of pride
That mountain of distraction
That mountain of past failures
And every earthly, man made mole hill we have granted mountain status in our lives!
It’s time to tell those mountains to MOVE and do what God has told us to do.
It’s time for the world to see the power of our faith, unhindered.
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