Face Your Mountain
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
A few months ago my mother and sister got into a playful tiff, a friendly war of sorts. It all began when my sister made a joke that my mother didn’t like and in response my mother turned to me and jokingly suggested that we attack my sister.
I reluctantly stepped forward agreeing to the ambush although I was concerned about my sister’s possible retaliation when my mother’s protection was no longer available. I proceeded to place, gentle love taps on my sister’s arms, hoping that my mother would not notice my lack of enthusiasm. It was at that point my mother turned and realized that I was not the trustworthy confidant she had hoped me to be in this equation. The end result of this little fight was all of us bursting into a fit of laughter. Little did I know that God was teaching me a valuable lesson.
A few days later I heard Holy Spirit say, “Face your fears every day and fight back. Even if all you have the courage and strength to do is swing, soft love-taps. Remember you have back up”. Immediately, my mind catapulted back to the incident between my mom, sister and self. Suddenly, I remembered that although I had barely made contact with my sister because of fear, my mother had used enough force that my sister could feel the impact.
In the same way, God is our back up. He is asking us to stand firm in the midst of fear and fight with what the strength we have. In the moment when we do not have the courage to fight against the things that make us fearful God is also there swinging and surely landing every punch.
Fear works as a paralytic, blocking us from the very life we hope for. However, who you are, the person that God created you to be, is on the other side of fear. While God will allow some walls to crumble, others must be climbed. Therefore, our job is to show up and face the mountain everyday.
Friend, the next time you are tempted to run, cower or walk away because of fear, I encourage you to face the mountain. God is surely with you. He will protect you and defend you and last I heard, He throws a mean punch.
