God Can Move Mountains and He has Moved them Right in Front of Me
We are so excited to be starting this new series. God Can Move Mountains Series was born out of the idea that as women of faith, who have experienced God move and work mightily in our lives, it is essential to share our stories.
Our stories that may have begun as a mustard seed of surrender offer hope, praise, and mountain-moving faith. We believe the God of our hearts, who is capable and willing to move those mountains in our lives, will do great things. And as a result, our stories have come together to give Him the glory.
We can't wait to share each of these women's stories with you over the next few months.
Our first writer, Jaime Wiebel, who also happens to be our social media girl, is going to share her mountain moving story today. But after you read her story, don't forget to like and share and all that great stuff but also check out the items we have for you for joining us on this journey at the end of the post. It's exciting!
I Just Couldn't Move the Mountain
All of my life, I believed in God. I believed He was who He said He was. I believed that He had done great things and I believed, I had accepted Him into my heart. My walk down the streets of gold was set and my life would end with me walking into the Heaven God was creating for us.
I grew up in the church. Like a lot of kids that grow up in the church, I soon found myself straying and looking like the rest of the world. The rules and the expectations I had been taught became too much. They were all too hard to keep up with. And once I had broken the rules so many times, I no longer thought there was any hope for a sinner like me.
So my beliefs became only an outward appearance. I could do all the right things when I needed to but when I thought no one was looking, I lived for myself.
I was on a path that I thought was right, at least it was right for me. Even when it felt destructive, I couldn't see how else it could be. I couldn't see any other way. After all, I had asked God into my heart, did it need to be any other way?
Life in a Downward Spiral
I knew God. I knew all the stories but my life had become my own. I believed the stories to be true, but I didn't see how they could be true for me. I had walked away and I wasn't sure God would ever take me back.
My life became plagued with guilt and shame and I carried that from place to place, relationship to relationship, and decision to decision. When I didn't enjoy one or another, I moved on.
I felt like I was always on the run. Unsettled And Uneasy. And completely unaware that God had never abandoned me.
Fast forward through my teen years and most of my twenties. My life had taken such a downward spiral and I barely recognized who I was supposed to be.
My Final Breaking Point
I was always able to cover up my life pretty well. In fact, when I came to several breaking points, I was doing all the "right" things. I was going to church. I was attending Bible Study. I was married with a baby on the way.
But on the inside, I was still trying to run and hide from God.
I was in the twenty-first week of my second pregnancy and went for my first ultrasound. This was an exciting day. With my husband, son, and parents in tow, we were about to witness the miracle of life. We could wait to see the little face and hear the beating of a precious baby's heart.
But on this day, God had other plans for me. The ultrasound displayed two little bundles of joy. I couldn't believe my eyes. But I also couldn't believe my ears. As the tech tried to find the little heartbeats, her eyes began to fill with tears.
She was not able to find heartbeats for either of them. Faith and Noah, that was what we named them, would have been 12 years old this Christmas. But today, they are in the arms of my Savior.
God Can Move Mountain and I Have Seen Him Move Them Right in Front of Me
God's plans for me were bigger than raising those two babies. Although it would have been my privilege to have them, I can't imagine a better Father to care for them.
Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. Matthew 21:21
This verse never made much sense to me before this time. I knew God's words were true and had the power to do great things but I never quite believed it to be true for me.
I thought that I had blown it so much in life that I was destined to live with all the shame and guilt I was buried under. After all, I had caused it all.
But for the very first time in my life, I tried something different. I got down on my knees in front of the God who I had outwardly professed to be my Savior but inwardly had never surrendered to.
I prayed for Him to restore the heartbeats of the babies before I had to deliver them. I cried out and confessed all that I had done and begged for Him to spare me.
And I finally surrendered my heart, my will, and my way. I prayed, not my will but His be done, and no matter what the outcome, I promised to love Him with all of my heart.
And There it Was
The one thing that kept God from moving a single mountain in my life was no longer an issue. The object of my faith had never been Him. It had always been myself. I couldn't move the mountain that I had literally buried myself under because I never surrendered that mountain to Him.
I held on so tight to it and wore it as if that was the only person I could and would ever be. Guilt and Shame were my cross to carry. The internal story was that was who I had to be.
But God didn't leave me there. In the moment of my surrender, He took everything I was holding onto, that giant mountain in front of me, and threw it into the sea.
He stood me up and reminded me that I was His child. He showed me He didn't see me as I saw myself. I had been redeemed and created for His Glory. He reminded me that He had carried my sins to the cross and with His blood-stained body had buried them in the tomb.
Together We Were Going to Rise Victoriously
You might be thinking to yourself that my story doesn't look much like a victory. After all, I had a great loss and it doesn't seem as if God answered my prayers.
My victory wasn't in getting to hold my babies. My victory was getting the greatest gift of all. Freedom in Christ. Christ is my great reward.
God can and will move the mountains in your life.
Matthew 21:21 says, "if you have faith". The important part of that verse is the object of where you put your faith. Who and what are you putting your faith in.
If you are putting your faith in the circumstances, situations, things, and people right in front of you, your life will stay the same.
Your mountains, whatever they may be, can be thrown into the sea. God says, get rid of your doubt, put your faith in me, and you will see what I can do.
If you have put your faith and trust in Christ, Victory is already yours.
Take hold. Take hold of Christ and together, you, too, will see Him move the mountains in front of you. Amen!
To see more from Jaime, You can find her hanging out here:
