DEVOTION: Move That Mountain ~ by Shirley Corder

". . . 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

I gazed at the magnificent Table Mountain in Cape Town and wondered. What did God mean? I couldn’t –didn’t want to—believe I held that sort of power, that I could demand it be moved. How many lives would be shattered or lost if that mountain moved?

But of course Jesus was not referring to a geological mountain. The disciples had just done battle (and lost) with a demonic spirit. Jesus was saying if they had any faith at all, they would have been able to move that spiritual mountain from that young boy.

I have been astounded recently to learn of some Christian leaders who actually do not believe this Scripture. They say that this was for the age of the apostles, and it no longer applies to today.

Some years ago, I knew beyond any doubt God wanted me to write a book of meditations specifically for those going through cancer treatment and those who were standing with them. I live in South Africa where we have few opportunities to get a book published outside of self-publishing, and I didn’t sense God wanted me to go that way. So I stepped out in faith and wrote the book, trusting God to take care of the rest. I looked at the mountain standing between my words and a published book, and asked, “Lord, please move that mountain.”

It didn’t happen all at once. Bit by bit that mountain started to move. An American author, Cecil Murphey, sent an email out of the blue, offering to pay for me to come to a Christian writers’ conference in Florida. He knew nothing about my book, nor did he know he was part of a mountain-moving exercise, but he was listening to the Lord.

At the conference, more pieces of mountain moved as the editor of Baker Publishing wanted my book. The mountain continued to crumble until one amazing day, several years after my original prayer, the entire mountain was gone, and I held in my hands my published book which was now available world-wide.

What mountain is standing between you and where you believe God wants you to be? Does God want it moved? Do you have faith? Then speak to it. God is still in the mountain-moving business today.

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her time in the cancer valley.

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Please visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook.