God will help you move that mountain

Special to The Log

Today’s world is full of frightening predictions of doom and gloom: Mortgages, foreclosures, a plummeting stock market, collapse of our economy, and gas prices making the cost of everything soar. These issues affect everyone and most of us have absolutely no control over them, so we feel helpless. To some, these seem insurmountable and they feel hopeless as one setback after another creates a mountain of problems.

Webster defines mountain as a high hill, colossal. The highest mountain in the world is Mt. Everest in the Himalayas. Its elevation is 29,028 feet (approximately 5 1/2 miles high). Mt. Everest is the ultimate challenge to mountain climbers. Many lives have been lost in climbing attempts, while others have succeeded in reaching the summit.

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to conquer Mt. Everest. The first time he tried, he failed. Yet, the Queen of England honored his brave attempt by knighting him in London. During the ceremony, a huge picture of Mt. Everest was displayed. Hillary received a standing ovation for even daring to try.

After the applause, Sir Hillary arose, turned his back to the audience and faced the picture of the awesome mountain, and said “Mt. Everest, you have defeated me once and you might defeat me again. But, I’m coming back again and again, and I’m going to win because you can’t get any bigger, but I can!”

Everyone has mountains in life and right now, many of us are facing our “Mt. Everest,” which can hinder us from leading victorious Christian lives by the very thought of this seemingly unconquerable mountain of problems. But, we can conquer these so-called mountains by doing one of three things: (1) Go forward (2) Go backward (3) Maintain status quo and do nothing at all.

Matthew 17:20-21 tells us: “... if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, we shall say to this mountain, remove hence to another place and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” In other words, “speak/talk to your mountain,” utilizing the keyword in that scripture — FAITH!

What are the challenging mountains in your life? Financial worries? Health? Fear, discouragement, jealousy, hate, despair, doubt, depression, a defeatist or negative attitude, disappointment, guilt, helplessness or feelings of inferiority? Eleanor Roosevelt said “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Whatever our issues, Satan capitalizes upon them and attacks at our lowest point of vulnerability, echoing our doubts about overcoming these challenges. But, “is anything too hard for God?” (Jeremiah 32:27). No. God can do anything except fail. However, we must do our part.
The mountains of stress or jealousy and hate can literally destroy us. Medical science has proven that these emotions cause severe internal organic problems in our bodies. If it does that much harm to our physical body, imagine the harm to us spiritually. Song of Solomon 8:6 says, “Jealousy is as cruel as the grave.”

When it seems that our personal problems are out of our control, gigantic and insurmountable, we should face them head-on with our trust in a great, big God. Our problems can never get bigger than God. We can conquer them! Is it easy? No. But when we do our part then God will do His.

“Is anything too hard for God?” No, absolutely nothing is too difficult for God. He cares about everything in our lives: Families, health, finances, homes and survival. Nothing is impossible for God!

Problems can lower our self worth and esteem, if we let them. It’s easy to succumb to negative thoughts. Who cares? Is it my fault? I can’t help it. I have to go with the flow.

The Psalmist encourages us beautifully in Psalm 49: “Listen, everyone! High and low, rich and poor, all around the world... listen to my words... I will tell in song accompanied by harps the answer to one of life’s most perplexing problems... there is no need to fear when trouble comes!”

Don’t allow negatives or the “you can’t do it(s)” to paralyze you. The Apostle Paul says it best in Philippians 4:8 when he lists the positive things in our life and tells us to THINK ON THEM, focus on the good! Practice the art of finding something good in every situation and person.

There is an answer to even the most daunting, unsolvable problems. Robert Schuller told the true story of a young college student working hard in an upper-level math course, fearing he would not pass the final exam. He studied long into the night, fell asleep and overslept the morning of the test. Running late into the classroom, he saw three equations on the blackboard. Two of them he solved rather easily but the third one seemed impossible. Frantically working on it, he finished just as time was called.

That evening the professor called him and shouted excitedly at the young man “do you realize what you did on the test today?” The student, fearing the worst, listened as the professor explained.

“You were only supposed to do the first two equation problems. That last one was an example of an unsolvable equation that has baffled mathematicians since Einstein. It was deemed unsolvable. I discussed that with the class before the test and your late arrival. You solved it!”

That student was none other than George Bernard Dantzig, the father of linear programming/algorithms. You see, no one told him that the problem was unsolvable, so he conquered it successfully!

We must surround ourselves with positive people because negative ones will drag us down. “Is anything too hard for God?” Never! Life is full of problems, but with our trust in our great big God, we can conquer the Mt. Everests in our life! The Psalmist says, “... the very day I call for help, the tide of the battle (our mountains) turns. My enemies (problems) flee!”

The Apostle Paul encountered many mountains, but kept his faith and trust in God. At the end of his life, he wrote confidently in II Timothy 4:7: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the kept the faith!”

Say to your mountain, “Move! You can’t get any bigger, but I can!” Nothing, including today’s fearful financial woes, are too hard for God.

Destin resident Ruth Cato Turton is an inspirational and motivational speaker and recognized as the “First Lady of Tea.”