Have you ever stood before a mountain?
There’s something about it – its size, its stillness, its permanence. It doesn’t flinch. It doesn’t shift.
It feels immovable, almost intimidating. Unlike plants that can be uprooted, mountains seem fixed forever.
In all our human experience, we don’t see mountains casually picked up and moved from one place to another. Yet… Jesus chose that exact imagery.
“If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed… ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence… and it shall remove.” (Matthew 17:20, KJV)
He wasn’t using a casual metaphor. He was pointing to something formed over millions of years, shaped by forces beyond human control, and saying:
Even mountains…can move.
That choice wasn’t random.
Jesus knew mountains. Not just from a distance, but from experience. He spent time on them – praying, withdrawing, meeting with God. The same mountains that looked unshakable to everyone else became places of encounter for Him.
Mountains don’t just appear. They are formed through processes so slow and intense, that they stretch far beyond a human lifetime. Shaped under pressure. Built layer by layer, which is what makes this imagery even more personal.
The Mountains We Carry
Not all mountains are made of rock.
Some are silent struggles that have lingered for years. So long that they’ve started to feel permanent. Situations that have shaped how others see us… and sometimes how we see ourselves.
- The weight of delayed answers,
- The ache of waiting – for marriage, for children, for stability,
- The frustration of stalled progress,
- The pressure of financial uncertainty,
- The quiet battles no one else fully understands.
Some situations don’t feel new. They feel….ancient. Not temporary discomforts, but patterns that repeat. Delays that stretch. Struggles that seem woven into your story.
Honestly, sometimes it’s not just the weight of it. It’s the history of it.
Over time, these mountains stop feeling like temporary challenges and start feeling like our identity.
“This is just my life.”
“This is how it will always be.”
But God never asked you to accept the mountain as your final reality.
Faith Is Not About Size
What stands out in Jesus’ words is not the power of faith – but the size of it.
“Faith as a grain of mustard seed…”
A mustard seed is tiny. Easy to overlook.
Jesus wasn’t asking for massive, unshakable, heroic faith. He was pointing to something simpler: real faith, even in its smallest form, is powerful when it is placed in God.
It’s not about how much faith you have.
It’s about where you place it.
Speak to the Mountain
In another moment, Jesus says:
“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed…” (Mark 11:23, KJV)
He didn’t say talk about the mountain.
He said speak to it.
Faith is not passive. It engages. It declares. It refuses to let circumstances have the final word.
This doesn’t mean denying reality.
It means refusing to let reality override God’s authority.
What If It Really Can Move?
“How can something this old ever change?”
God is not limited by how long something has existed. Time does not make a mountain permanent in His hands.
It may not happen overnight.
It may not look the way you imagined.
But God specializes in what feels impossible.
The same God who formed the mountains is not intimidated by them.
What feels permanent to you is still subject to Him.
You don’t need perfect faith.
You don’t need big faith.
You just need real faith – placed in a God who has never failed.
Even the smallest seed of that…can move mountains.
Some mountains feel permanent…but God can make them move.
A Prayer for Today
Dear Lord,
You see the mountains in my life – the ones that feel unmovable, unchangeable, and overwhelming.
Help my unbelief. Strengthen my faith, even if it is small. Give me the courage to believe You beyond what I see.
Teach me to speak with confidence, to trust without fear, and to wait with hope.
Remind me that no situation is beyond Your power.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Categories: My Christian Beliefs, My Devotionals
Pearl's Blog 
Leave a comment