How Faith Moves Mountains When Everything Falls Apart
Dream the impossible dream! It sounds great, but maybe you've experienced that crushing moment when your God-given vision hits what looks like a dead end, and you wonder if you'll ever see it come to pass. If so, you're in good company and you're exactly where God wants to work on your heart.
When Dreams Meet Reality
God had a dream long ago to have a family, and he wanted you to be in that family. After he created you, he gave you the ability to dream, the ability to have a vision of what's to come, the ability to visualize a preferred future. But some dreams are to honor God and some dreams fit more in the selfish category. Every person has to make a decision: Are the dreams that I'm going to follow honoring to God, or are they ultimately selfish?
God works through our dreams, even when they seem impossible. We might experience delays, setbacks or devastating news. Our dreams may inspire us but we may have to work through challenges to realize them.
The Pattern of God's Dreams
This is a perfect example of the progress of a dream. This is the way it usually works in this sin-stained world: It starts out great, then there are problems, then there are so many problems that it looks like it comes to a dead end. The question becomes: Will we still have faith even when it looks like it's going to be a dead end?
Then finally God comes through. But God uses those problems to work on our hearts first, then work on the project.
Why Faith Changes Everything
Romans 10:17 tells us, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." If you want to grow your faith, we go to God's word to strengthen it. But why is faith so crucial?
Faith determines what God will do in my life. When Jesus healed two blind men in Matthew 9:29, "he touched their eyes and said, 'According to your faith, let it be done to you.'" God always works through our faith. Where there's no faith, God doesn't work much.
Faith can solve the impossible. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, "Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
The Six Facets of Faith
Faith isn't one-dimensional. Sometimes faith charges up a mountain; sometimes it says the best thing is to wait and trust the Lord. Here are six crucial facets:
Faith is stretching my imagination - Ephesians 3:20 says God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."
Faith is taking the initiative - Like the woman who pushed through crowds to touch Jesus' garment, sometimes faith means getting in the game.
Faith is risking failure - Paul appealed to Caesar, knowing it was risky, because faith is willing to take risks for the Gospel.
Faith is waiting - As David wrote in Psalm 40:1, "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help."
Faith is following - Abraham "went without even knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).
Faith is coming back from failure - Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I'm doing a new thing now."
Putting It Into Practice
What Jesus wants are strong men and women of faith whom he can count on, who will always follow him no matter what. In the Old Testament, Habakkuk gave us the greatest statement of faith: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines... yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my Savior" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).
My dream for you is that you would grow in your faith and become a champion for God, a person that God can call on in any situation because he knows you would say yes. Don't let past failures keep you from future victory. God is doing a new thing, and he wants you to be part of it.
Reflection
Are the dreams you're currently pursuing honoring to God, or do they fit more in the selfish category? Take an honest inventory of your vocational plans, family goals, and personal aspirations.
When you face what looks like a "dead end" in pursuing God's calling on your life, do you still have faith that God is working? Think about a current situation where you're tempted to give up.
Which of the six facets of faith do you need to grow in most right now: stretching your imagination, taking initiative, risking failure, waiting patiently, following obediently, or coming back from failure?
Can God count on you to be "strong in faith no matter what happens in the good times and in the bad times"? What would it look like for you to be like "a giant tree that can withstand hurricane force winds"?
Application
This week, choose one specific area where you need to exercise greater faith. Whether it's taking initiative on a God-honoring dream, patiently waiting through a difficult season, or rebounding from a past failure, take one concrete step forward. Write down what God may be asking you to do, and commit to saying yes before God even tells you the details. Faith means being the kind of person God can call on in any situation because God knows you'll say yes.
Prayer
God, we know that it is your desire to create a people of faith. I pray that I would be the kind of strong person of faith that you can always count on, who will always be there, who will never give up. Thank you that you have planted in my heart your very Spirit to empower me to fulfill the calling of faith. Sometimes faith calls me to charge ahead. Sometimes faith calls me to wait. Sometimes faith calls me to rebound from failure. Whatever it is, Lord, let me be a person of faith. Help me to honor you with my dreams and to trust you completely, even when the path seems impossible. In Jesus' name, Amen
