Moving Mountains

Mark 11:22-24 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
 

Faith to move mountains always seemed to me … unlikely. I would definitely be one of those that Jesus would tell, “Oh you of little faith.” Yet even in my doubt, God moved in an amazing way one night on a drive home from work.

In 1995, the Santa Barbara area had a series of rain storms like no others. The ground was so saturated that rivers were overflowing their banks sweeping homes, cars and RV’s out to sea. The worst of it happened when a mountain side gave way in the La Conchita community situated along the Highway 101 corridor between Santa Barbara and Ventura. Thousands of tons of earth buried homes and pushed others off of their foundations. The avalanche closed the freeway in both directions and the only way around the disaster was through the City of Ojai along a two lane road. A drive that normally took twenty minutes took two hours.

Working in Santa Barbara and living in Ventura meant I faced a long drive home at 3:00 in the morning after working a swing shift. I took a chance and drove to the California Highway Patrol roadblock on the north end of the freeway closure. It was raining like mad and the CHP officer let me drive through the disaster area because I was law enforcement travelling home from work. He warned me to go slow because there were boulders on the highway. So off I went at about 40 mph where I would normally drive 70. I was moving along a section where the hillside was close to the freeway and to my surprise I found myself steering to avoid a boulder that weighed 1,000 pounds. I slowed down to 20.

More attentive of my surroundings, I worked my way towards the area impacted by the slide. There was still a danger of the mountain continuing to slide and wipe out more homes. I felt compelled to pray. I asked God to hold back the mountain. I raised one of my hands toward the hillside and felt what I can only describe as the Spirit of God present with me in the car. In that moment, I did not doubt. I remembered that Jesus said with faith, I could move mountains. I wanted God to hold this one back.

I got home safely and went to bed. The next afternoon I headed back to work and drove back through the area. I remember hearing on the radio that La Conchita had experienced a second slide. I was really bummed. I prayed the night before and felt the Spirit of God move. I did not doubt. What happened?

The answer came when I drove past the slide area. The area that threatened the homes held fast. The second slide was further north and took out a grove of banana trees. And I questioned God. WWJD? He would say, “Why did you doubt, Michael? Oh you of little faith.”

What is your Mountain Story, God Story?