Friday, April 13, 2012

Overcoming Obstacles




"Truly I tell you, 
if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, 
you can say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' 
and it will move. 
Nothing will be impossible for you"
(Matthew 17:20 niv).






On our last furlough, I developed a saying that I couldn't break. Every time I spoke in a church or meeting the saying just came out without thinking. It wasn't bad, but it could have been taken two ways––one not so good. I was so overjoyed with the things God was doing in the ministry that I wanted people to know God still does miracles. And, although they may have thought I was exaggerating the stories, they were, in fact, the truth. I told everybody,"This is no lie." As you can imagine, it sounded as though I lie, but the story I was telling them was not a lie. It got some laughs, so I guess God used the saying to His glory for the miracles He was doing.

 Look what Jesus said––"Truly I tell you,". He told people he spoke the truth, if they believed the mountain would move, it would move.

There are many obstacles in life, but God can do the impossible to overcome them. When our grandson Ben was born, his spine wasn't completely closed. Two days later it closed on its own, an answer to prayer. However, he never talked until he was three, but even then, only a few words. He was taken to specialists and had speech therapy for several years; but still my daughter had to work with him every day to overcome the speech problems that still lingered after the therapy. He was making progress. We prayed and believed God could remove the obstacle.

When he entered elementary school he still had a slight problem, but it soon became evident he was a gifted child and was selected for the gifted program. Today he is 14, an honor student and a top athlete. Nobody would ever know he had a problem with his speech when he was a small child. He overcame his obstacle.

One of my obstacles is a distance of 5500 miles between us and our grandchildren. It isn't easy to build relationships long distance, but it is possible. Yes, there are obstacles to overcome, but there are also ways to overcome them. Thank the Lord we have Internet, we can make phone calls, write letters and of course, give gifts from time to time––all possibilities that bridge the gap.

Whatever our obstacles, God can remove them. We just need to believe we can move mountains, and they will move. I have experienced God moving mountains––and that is no lie! Truly!