When Mountains Don’t Move

Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.

What do you do when the mountain your soul longs to see moved . . . doesn’t move?

How do you respond when you pray long and hard, staring at the mountain you want to come down, but it stays in its place? What do you do when this mountain blocks your view and you’re afraid to move forward or backwards? What do you believe about God when that mountain obstinately refuses to budge?

We pray and sing for the mountains to be moved, but let’s be honest: Have you ever seen an actual mountain crumble or step aside? Not a literal one, perhaps, but a metaphorical one? The mountains of our struggles aren’t always removed the way we desire, so we give up and become rooted in our fear, doubt, worry, and discouragement. But what if God is actually moving mountains much bigger than the ones we can see—the mountains of our hearts?

After a traumatic experience involving my health a few years ago, I was faced with a terrifying mountain. No matter what I did, this mountain of anxiety refused to budge from in front of me. It prompted me to pull back from community and made me afraid to place my trust in God. I prayed for this mountain to collapse. I begged God to remove it. But he showed me another way to move past this mountain in my heart: to walk over it. To face it for what it was, with him before me, beside me, behind me, and all around me (see Isaiah 43:2). He showed me it was possible to walk over the mountain, step by step, as the fear in my soul bowed down to the maker of the mountains.

Fear cannot be avoided or escaped; it must be faced head on with the hope of the gospel. Even if the mountains don’t move, we can walk over them with the fear of God strengthening our hearts. We may do so with trembling hearts, but we walk forward in hope (see Hebrews 11:1).

Some mountains were never meant to be removed; they were meant to be hiked and conquered with God’s strength as we learn to trust the one whose love never fails (see Romans 8:37-39).

So let’s hike, friends. When the mountains don’t move, put on your climbing gear and move forward in faith, freedom, and the victory Jesus died to make ours.

Word before World Even when the mountain you’re facing won’t move, God will give you the strength to move forward and trek over it by faith.

Grow in Grace What mountain are you facing today? Pray the words of Isaiah 40:4, and believe that God, who made the mountains, can move the mountains. And he is with you as you hike over the mountains that don’t move.