moving mountains

"...For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, 
you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, 
and nothing will be impossible to you."  

Matthew 17:20

This week has found me heavy hearted for a dear friend. Along with many others, I am being called to walk beside her, encourage her, and pray for her. It is a beautiful thing to see so many stand together with her and for her, in solidarity.

In addition to the heaviness I feel for my friend, I have also struggled with what I would call spiritual warfare - the attack of the Enemy on my internal being, aiming at my soul. It has left me irritable, angry, sleepless, unproductive and wrestling with myself. I am weighed down by the burden of all this ugliness in my own life. Upon inquiry, it seems that some of the others lifting up this friend are experiencing similar weighty-ness.

Why? I wondered. Why would we be the ones experiencing these blatant spiritual attacks? Why this group of women on the outside? We are walking a friend through a difficult time, and feel elated at the opportunity to be there for her. So why this wrestle in our own darkness?

Because we are moving mountains.

I am not sure how it works, but somewhere in the spiritual realm our prayers are being heard. They are powerful, effective, faithful. They are the opposite of what sin and Satan want to accomplish. Prayer changes the path of darkness being etched into our lives. Prayer sets the Light in motion.

People tell me they want to do something. Praying doesn't feel like enough. That is the voice of one who wants to distract from the only thing that does make a difference.  Though we may feel ineffective, the Enemy's attack is proof that we are deemed worthy opponents. Prayer is the one thing that will move a mountain of this magnitude and our prayers are changing a life. So, one fistful at a time, let's move this mountain.

"...For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, 
you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, 
and nothing will be impossible to you."  

Matthew 17:20

The words in Isaiah struck a encouraging chord in my heart this week, promising that though we are in a desert wilderness, one day the mountain will forever be gone, the valleys raised up, the rough and rugged places made smooth...

"In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; 

make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; 

the rough ground shall become level, 

the rugged places a plain. 

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together."  

Isaiah 40:3-5