Fourteen Thousand Pounds

Matthew 17:20b – I tell you the truth, 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. (NIV)

Last summer, we had the opportunity to purchase fourteen round bales of hay, fodder enough for our livestock for the next two years. The deal was not only financially appealing, but when delivery was thrown in, it became irresistible. The only catch was that each bale weighed in at just under a thousand pounds. The farmer from whom we had made the purchase insisted that we would need a small tractor or forklift to move the bales away from the truck when he delivered them.

"We don't have either of these," we responded. "We just have ourselves."

"That won't be enough," he insisted. "You must have a tractor or forklift or at least several other people to help you move these bales."

Well, a tractor or a forklift didn't materialize and neither did any other people, as the bales arrived on an unexpected day at an unexpected time, and everyone we called upon was away — everyone, that is, but the one most important person of all — the Holy Spirit.

Thus, as the farmer and his big burly helper rolled the bales from his trailer, my daughter and I, with a total weight of 280 pounds between us, successfully rolled each bale away from the trailer to the designated area we had prepared. How did we do this, you ask? We worked together, by faith with the Holy Spirit, that's how we did it — and bale by bale, that 14,000-pound mountain of hay rolled away. This was not a magical happening, but in many ways, it was a miraculous one, the type of miracle that all Christians can experience when they work together with one another through God's Spirit. From the time we ordered the bales until the time they came, we prayed for strength and guidance to know how to move them safely. Therefore, as each bale bounced from the trailer, Mary and I worked together, not against one another. We used our combined experience, strength, and the power of faith and leverage to accomplish a task which the farmer believed to be impossible.

Likewise, when God's church chooses to pray for strength and guidance, and then commits to working together with one another, through faith and the power of His Holy Spirit, there is absolutely nothing which God cannot accomplish through them, absolutely no mountain which cannot be moved.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for the joy of working together with our brothers and sisters in Christ and for the presence of Your Holy Spirit in our lives, ever seeking to teach us, guide us, and remind us of all that Jesus has taught us. Bless us, Your Church, this day, with humble, prayerful spirits that are open to the Holy Spirit's presence and the miracles of faith that move mountains looming upon the horizon. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.

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