Mark 11:22-23 says, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Have you ever wondered how much faith it takes to move a mountain? Do you question whether or not you have enough faith to do it?
I believe that all of us as believers have had these questions present themselves at one time or another, especially when we are facing a serious obstacle in life, but I want to point something out that so many people misunderstand about this passage. Jesus didn’t say that faith would move the mountain. He said that words would move the mountain.
In Mark 4, Jesus gave equivalence between God’s seed and God’s Word. He said the Word is the seed and the whole kingdom of God operates on this principle—planting seed and producing harvest. This message was so important to Him that He repeated Himself to make sure the disciples got it.
In God’s system, everything starts out as a seed, and we must recognize that inside every single seed is a harvest—faith or no faith. If you want the harvest contained in the seed, you must plant it!
I recently read a story where there were some ancient seeds found in a little clay pot inside a pharaoh’s tomb. The Egyptians would bury stuff in the tomb with the intent of taking things into the afterlife with them. These seeds were thousands of years old, and they did an experiment with them by planting them. Guess what the result was? They produced! Sitting in that little clay jar were seeds full of harvest. Even though they sat dormant inside that tomb for thousands of years they still produced when they were planted in the right environment.
The world and God’s kingdom operate exactly opposite from each other. Think about the movie trailers you have seen that cause you to go see the film. Once you get there, you realize that you have already seen the best parts of the movie. The world works off of hype and glitz. They lure you in by showing you the biggest and best scenes first. Then when you get there and see the rest of the film, you realize that the rest of the movie is just filler.
God’s system is not like that. Everything starts out as a seed, a very small seed, but when it grows up, it is much larger and greater than when it started as just a seed. We must be harvest minded, and not let the size of the seed keep us from working God’s system.
So how do you release the harvest contained in the seed? You speak! Turn the Word loose on your mountain.
Those of us who are schooled in faith and confession have a tendency to think in terms of my faith, my mountain, and my might. When we do that, we lose sight of God’s power that is greater than any problem or mountain.
Remember this…faith plants the seed, and faith waters the seed. How does faith plant the seed? It speaks. How does faith water the seed? It speaks.
If you are like me, you thoroughly enjoy a big, red beefsteak tomato in the summertime. That tomato started out as a tiny seed, and in that seed was the harvest of that tomato. But the harvest did not come until the seed was planted and watered regularly—on a daily basis. That tomato would have never come about if it were watered only when it was first planted and when the farmer “felt” like it. It had to be tended to on a regular basis.
If we want to see mountains move in our lives, we must plant the seed of God’s Word by putting it in our mouths and speaking it. Then on a daily basis, water that seed by continuing to speak His Word. If you will be consistent with it, you will see consistent results. The harvest may not come overnight, but it will come. Be careful not to neglect your seed. And if at times the heat is turned up, increase your watering. Just like a farmer has to increase his watering in the summer time, we too have to be aggressive with our watering.
Acts 19:20 says, “So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.” When planted and watered properly, the Word will prevail over any situation and circumstance. I encourage you today to not look at any obstacles as “your” mountain or “your” problem. Face it knowing that you already have what it takes to move it. Plant the seed of God’s Word and continually water it. The harvest is in the seed!