Mountain, Go Throw Yourself Into the Sea, Please

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.“

Mark 11:22-23

I have a list in my journal titled, “Mountain, Go Throw Yourself Into the Sea.” Underneath is a long line of things I cannot control, cannot possibly budge on my own, impossible things. I have given them to Jesus, the One who makes the impossible Possible. I have replaced my to-do lists with He-Can-Do.

There are things I can move with my own will and things I cannot. A mountain is a thing I cannot. I didn’t always understand this, but I do now. Suffering has a way of teaching us what we could not understand before.

I cannot make a sick child well. I cannot heal the depression of a loved one. I cannot take away the grief of a friend who has lost a spouse to death or divorce. I cannot remove the fear my Muslim friend feels for her family trapped in a bombed city on the other side of the world. I cannot control the future during a global pandemic. 

I cannot, I cannot, I cannot.

But my God can. 

He can make the sick child well. He can heal the depression of a loved one. He can comfort the mourning. He can give peace to my Muslim friend as she waits to hear from her family, and in the process show her the Messiah gives peace she cannot find in Islam. He can provide for me and you as the future unfolds during these uncertain times.

If I have faith in Him, these mountains will surely move.

When we lived deep in the bush of East Africa, we would sometimes leave the village and travel to a quiet retreat on the coast. To get there, we had to cross a narrow inlet by ferry. One day as we stood on the boat deck squinting into the midday sun, I heard a strange sound. 

Tink, tink, tink. Tink, tink, tink. 

Following the noise with my eyes I discovered the source. A group of bedraggled men stood precariously on a mountainside along the opposite shore, tink-tinking away at the land with tiny pickaxes. 

Tink, tink, tink. Tink, tink, tink. 

Their sweaty faces glistened in the sun as they labored to move the earth one small strike at a time. It would have been laughable if it hadn’t been so pitiful. The job was gigantic. Their strongest, best efforts were minuscule. 

That cliffside remained standing, immovable, stubborn.

About a year later, we passed that way again. The workers had abandoned the post. The mountain stood triumphant, exactly where it had been, right up alongside the rippling blue waves of the Indian Ocean. It was still there, its white flanks smiling defiantly into the blinding sunlight.

How ridiculous it must have seemed to the disciples when Jesus pointed to a towering mountain along the dusty road toward Jerusalem and declared,

“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” 

No sea was within sight of Jerusalem. To suggest the mountains surrounding her falling into the sea was astounding. To declare faith alone had the power to make it happen was outright shocking. Jesus was declaring the impossible possible, if one would have faith in God.

There are mountains surrounding our path today. They loom over our dusty sandals as we lean our heads together with our companions and ask the questions that puzzle our hearts. We do not understand why things are as they are. We have lost the illusional privilege of control. We are tink, tink, tinking away with our pickaxes to no avail.

Jesus still walks the winding road with us today, and His words remain timeless and true. 

“Have faith in God…I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Mark 11:22-23

God moves mountains. As surely as the towering giant shadowing your path today stands in the way of your health, your dreams, your hopes, he will lie as dust at your feet tomorrow when you place your faith in the Savior who moves… Click To Tweet

What are you facing today? Will you have faith in God to move your mountain?

Lay down your pickaxe and say to that mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea in Jesus’ name.” Believe in God, and He will do it. 

Lord, I say to this mountain in Jesus’ name, go, throw yourself into the sea. Amen.

@audreycfrank