It’s Safe to Try this At Home // Having Faith that Moves Mountains, Part 4

It seems that over and over again, the world teaches us to be self–reliant.  Life’s about succeeding and success is about who we are and what we do and in this day and age, surely we can be and do whatever we want.  Oh really?

A Part For God To Play 

I was sitting down with a group of businessmen recently for a breakfast that we’d organised and I was about to share a message called "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" with this group. It was interesting to listen to the discussion around the table as people drank their coffee and munched on a muffin.

Being men in business, the discussion was around the economic climate and it’s impact on their businesses. And as we chatted, it became pretty clear to me how self-reliant this group of men had been programmed to be.

They are after all, businessmen. They have businesses to run. They’re meant to succeed. And when the economy turns sour, it’s almost as though they are the failures because their businesses are struggling. In fact, during the economic crisis, I sat with a wise, older man and he was sharing with me how much of his time was being taken up counselling other men in his sector – financial services – who were contemplating suicide because they were facing ruin.

Whatever we do, whoever we are, it seems that society is programming us to be self-reliant. We have to rely on our wits and our abilities to succeed and if we don’t we’re failures. Never mind that some adversity that we could never control has swept in like a storm off the ocean. No – we’re meant to succeed. But here’s the thing – if we’re so self-reliant, what happens when the storm is so ferocious, we can’t deal with it? What happens when the mountain is so big, we can’t budge it? Then what? It’s scary. Really scary.

The hardest thing I think in overcoming fear in life is actually getting to that point where we have a high level of confidence in God. Who God is. What He’s done. His might and His power and His sovereignty. It all sounds great in theory. But what about in practice? What about when the rubber hits the road? Then what?

I used to think that it was up to me. And I guess in part it is, but not completely. That’s just as well, because you and I, we’re human. We can’t just conjure up confidence. We can’t take this theory about who God is and let the theory wipe away the fear.

Because fear is real. No, I need something more than that. I need something more than promises on paper. And fortunately, that’s exactly what God had planned to do. He didn’t want to leave it all up to us. Wants us to actually experience His peace – not our strength, but a peace and strength that come from Him. Let’s pick up the rest of what He had to say, beginning again at verse 28 of Isaiah Chapter 40:

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28)

Great, there’s the theory again but watch now for what comes next.

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31

Do you see the point? Where do the power and the strength come from? Do you or I conjure them up. No! They come from the Lord. And we need that, because even youths will faint and be weary and the young and the strong will fall exhausted. BUT – and here’s the BUT – the glorious, wondrous, powerful BUT:

but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

He gives those things to us when we wait expectantly on Him. And that’s literally what that word “wait” means. Not waiting grumbling and complaining. Not waiting with our hearts and our eyes downcast. Not trembling paralysed with fear. No, it means waiting expectantly. Waiting on God with the expectation that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He is going to do.

Looking up at Him and just expecting strength and assurance and comfort from Him. Right there in the middle of our fear. With our emotions on a rollercoaster ride, with our enemies around us, with disaster looming – but with an expectation somewhere deep inside that God is going to act.

And that what will happen is exactly what He has planned. Do you know what we’re doing when we’re doing that sort of waiting. We’re having faith that moves mountains! We’re living it right then and there.

Who knows – will God give us victory over our enemies or not? I don’t know. More Christians martyred in the twentieth century than in the two thousand years before that combined.

We all die some time. Is He going to heal this cancer or let it take its course? Is He going to give me victory over my enemies, or does He have a different plan? Sometimes, we just don’t know? But this one thing I do know, that …

… those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

God is saying to us through His Word today – indeed He is commanding us – DO NOT BE AFRAID.

And you know why it is that I am not afraid of death? Because I have eternal life through Jesus Christ. Sometimes He gives me victory over circumstances on this earth. Sometimes, He lets me suffer. But come what may – if I am diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow – I am going to put my confidence in the God who has given me a life eternal with Him.

Just before He was crucified and when His disciples were trembling in fear, this is what Jesus said to them:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

So far as we know each of those disciples (other than Judas) went on to do mighty things for God … and then, they died for their faith. So often we’re focussed on the here and the now but God’s plan for your life and mine my friend is life eternal. That’s why I put my confidence in Jesus Christ who paid the price in full for my sin on that cross.

God gives us His peace and His strength when we wait expectantly on Him. Doesn’t matter how big, bad or ugly the enemy is. Doesn’t matter how fearful we are. God will take away our fear, when we wait expectantly on Him. That’s the sort of faith that moves mountains.

Your Mind Really Matters 

I want to share with you right now one of the most powerful things that I have ever learned about having the sort of faith that moves mountains.

We spoke the last week about the world’s template of success. The notion that if we would just have positive thoughts, we can have positive outcomes in every aspect of our lives. We can do anything and achieve anything, if only we’ll get a positive mindset. It’s a seductive idea. It’s one that we would love to pull up next to.

In fact, so popular is this notion that a whole school of positive thinking has grown up over recent years. But it doesn’t matter how positively we think, there are going to be things that we can’t overcome. It doesn’t matter how positively I think about life, one day, one way or another, this mortal body will give up its spirit.

And so, many a Christian will reject this notion of thinking positively, because it has been so intrinsically linked to the world’s template of success. Yet, God’s Word is very clear, that what we do with our mind actually matters. That instead of being locked into the patterns of thinking that pervade the world and just don’t work, instead of allowing ourselves to be squeezed into the world’s mould, we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What we do with our mind matters.

Now, I am a naturally positive person. I just am. Probably my training at the Australian Army Office Academy – the Royal Military College Duntroon helped. But the way that I’m wired inside means that I see the glass as being half full and not half empty. And I guess it’s a great help too that much of my work involves me in studying and preaching God’s Word. I’m constantly listening to Him and hearing from Him. It’s one of the reasons I so love doing what I do.

Every now and then though, I get to feeling a little down or lost. Normally when I’m tired and I have a lot going on in my life. But that’s generally only a now and then sort of thing.

One day, I decided to take notice of my thoughts – a stock-take if you will, of the way in which I used my mind. I was absolutely shocked at the number of negative thoughts that I allow to occupy my mind. I mean really shocked. Because I’d always seen myself as Mr Positive. In fact those who know me well, would tell you that as well.

Here’s how it happens. We race around doing all the things we do in life. Getting the kids off to school. Getting ready for work. The long commute. The pressures at work. Go, go, go. And this intrudes on our schedule. Or that delays us. Or this person says something that annoys us.

And that’s before the guy in the car in front of us changes lanes without using his blinker. And so we honk the horn and we think bad thoughts. "How could that guy do that?!" "Oh no, I’m running late." "Oh! I forgot to put an apple in Johnnie’s school bag." "That idiot – how can he come up with that?" "She has absolutely no idea what she’s doing. Who do they think they are?"

Do any of this sound even vaguely familiar to you? And they’re just the tip of the iceberg aren’t they?

The salesman sitting there staring at the phone afraid to pick it up and make an appointment. "They’re never going to buy from me." The wife who looks at her busy husband and thinks to herself, "He’s never, ever going to understand me."

In fact, it doesn’t matter who we are, where we live, what walk of life we’re in – these negative thoughts creep in and then we begin to verbalise them. We start speaking them out to ourselves and to other and before you know it we’re wandering through life with a stinking attitude that is going to rob us of the blessings that God has planned for today and for tomorrow and for the next day. That’s exactly what Jesus said:

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile. (Matthew 15:17-20)

These thoughts and these words begin to shape our reality. The shape how we see the world. And that shaping in turn defines the attitude with which we live our lives. And our attitudes are like the lenses that we see the world through.

That’s why some people are just mean-spirited and nasty and glum and negative. The pathetic character Gollum in the Lord of the Rings if you’ve read the books or seen the movies is a caricature of such a person. Gollum clung onto the one ring that ruled them for so long that in the end, it destroyed him.

And we’re prone to do exactly the same. The problem with all this is that these negative thoughts are insidious. They creep up on us and cloud our vision.

A few years ago, I was fiddling with my glasses over lunch at a friend’s house and they snapped in two. I was so annoyed – this was going to cost me some serious money. So I visited the optometrist to have the vision tests for a new pair. And one of the test that they routinely conduct is to check the eye pressure to test for glaucoma.

It was in that routine test that I was diagnosed with that very disease. It’s insidious because there are no discernible symptoms. The pressure inside the eyeball remains high and slowly damages the optic nerve at the back of the eye. Over a few years, it can send a person blind. By the time they notice that there’s something wrong, they’ve lost much of their sight and the damage cannot be reversed. Fortunately, mine was diagnosed very early and with routine treatment, my eyesight will be fine for many years to come.

This is exactly what happens to us when we allow negative thoughts to rule our lives. Our view of the world becomes clouded and distorted and we don’t even know it. Have a listen again to Jesus on this:

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22,23)

If our vision is clear then the light can get in. But if not, we end up in darkness. It robs us of the light. But it’s the very last bit of what Jesus says here that is the most damning: If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?

I Can Do This

Our thoughts can destroy us. Truly they can. We get all caught up in negative “gloom and doom” type thinking and before you know it, that’s what we’re living out. We close off the possibility that God is in this place. We close off the possibility that He loves us. We close off the reality that He can and will step in to help us in ways that we can’t even dream of. And we’re blinded by looking through faithless eyes instead of eyes of faith. Have a listen again to Jesus on this:

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:22,23)

That’s the problem. We kid ourselves, we think we’re living a good life but in fact it’s a dark life because of our negative thoughts. So what’s the answer. This faith thing isn’t some theory lesson. It’s about God’s grace really making a difference in our lives. Especially when we’re struggling with negative thoughts.

The solution as it turns out is simple. So simple, I’m embarrassed to tell you that it wasn’t entirely obvious to me. I sort of knew, but not in a way that made me aware of my negative thoughts and empowered me to do something about them.

Here it is. Hold on to your hat. Here it comes. Every time we have a negative thought, we consciously and deliberately replace it with a positive one. And the best positive thoughts of all are what God says about us in the Bible. Let me give you just three examples:

Negative Thought Number 1: I can’t possibly put up with my husband for another minute! That could be replaced with:

Positive Thought Number 1: Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands so that, even if some of them do not obey the word they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
(1 Peter 3:1,2)

Solution Number 1: Do you see what just happened here? The negative thought will drive a behaviour of isolation. The negative thought will chill relations further. The negative thought is the pathway to divorce. Now replace it with the positive thought – right from God’s Word. Because it offers a solution. God’s solution. Hen-pecking doesn’t work, but as woman you have the power to change your man’s heart and his behaviour by who you are. When this woman chooses to believe that thought –God’s Word – over her negative one, she is in effect putting her faith in God’s Word. She’s hoping in God’s Word. She quietly, expectantly waits for God to renew her strength. The negative thought would end in destruction. The positive thought opens up the way to the solution. Which one is better do you think?

Negative Thought Number 2: How could that guy possibly do that? That could be replaced with:

Positive Thought Number 2: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye. (Matthew 7:1-5)

Solution Number 2: The negative thought will never lead to a solution to the problem. The positive thought calls this man to see and think clearly. What have I done to contribute to this situation? Maybe that other guy as something else going on in his life that’s causing him to behave this way. Now, what can I do to help?

Negative Thought Number 3: I can’t make this phone call. I’m not made for selling. These people are never going to buy from me. I’m sick of being rejected. This could be replaced with:

Positive Thought Number 3: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. (Luke 6:38) Well, I’m a giver. That verse is for me.

Solution Number 3: Fear immobilises. God blesses. And when this salesperson believes that God is in the blessing business, it changes his or her behaviour. It gives them the quiet confidence to believe that God has gone ahead, that God has seen their secret giving and the rest belongs to Him.

Do you see what’s going on here? This is about putting faith to work. This is where the rubber hits the road. The moment a negative thought comes to attack our confidence, we replace it with a positive one. And not just something we dreamed up. The Word of God. The Truth. Because when we know the truth, when we put it to work in our lives, it sets us free.

It’s time to wake up to this. Faith is this – faith is choosing to believe God’s Word over and above our circumstances. Irrespective of how daunting, fearful and overwhelming those circumstances may appear. It is a deliberate choice to believe.

And then when we believe, it is about doing God’s Word. Letting God’s Word replace the negative thought and then acting on it. Because there’s one thing for certain. If we retain the negative thought we will act on it. The wife will isolate her husband. The man will beat up on the other guy at work (idiot that he is!). The salesperson will remain immobilised in their fear and not make any sales.

We act on our negative thoughts! Isn’t that a wakeup call?!

Faith has two parts. Believing and doing. Sometimes, that “doing” standing still and letting God do His part. That’s still doing! And unless we act on the faith, it never moves mountains. In fact, faith without works is dead!

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead … But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works.’"Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (James 2:14f)

In other words, what we do is the active demonstration of what we believe. If we believe the negative, destructive thoughts we will live them out and they will ruin our lives. If instead, we believe God’s Word, we will live those out and do it for God’s glory. Faith thus lived out in my life and yours my friend, that’s the sort of faith that moves mountains.