Why Didn't My Mountain Move pt. 5
Intro: Part 5 of a series of messages on:
WHY DIDN'T MY MOUNTAIN MOVE?
This series was birthed on a question a woman asked her pastor, when her sick child died... "Why didn't my mountain move? I prayed, I believed, I spoke to the mountain, but my child died." The pastor she asked, replied:
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE CLIMBED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE CONQUERED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE COMMANDED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE CORDONED OFF. (My addition to his reply)
This week we will be discussing: Some mountains are cordoned off
Ex 19:20 And the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Ex 19:21 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
Ex 19:22 "And also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them."
Ex 19:23 And Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for Thou didst warn us, saying, 'Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.'"
Ex 19:24 Then the LORD said to him, "Go down and come up [again,] you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break forth upon them."
Ex 19:25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
In this passage of scripture we see Moses and Aaron invited to the top of the Mt. Sinai to meet with God, but the rest of the nation were only allowed to view what was going on from a distance. Moses in fact was instructed to cordon off the mountain so that no one could even accidentally step on the mountain. (v. 23)
I wonder how many people at that event wished they also could go up the mountain with Moses? Truth is they were absolutely forbidden to do so.
Have you ever wished you could have something somebody else had? Have you ever struggled that others were more successful than you? Have you ever felt, if I could only get a break, things would be mighty different for you.
Ps 75:6 ¶ For promotion [cometh] neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Ps 75:7 But God [is] the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
I suppose we would have no problem with this passage in Psalms, except for the fact that God sometimes seems to advance (or at least allow to advance) the most worthless of people.
Solomon the wisest man who ever lived struggled with this issue and this is what he deduced from what he saw: Ec 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
When you were born, where you were born, whether it be war time or peace time, a time of prosperity or a time of famine all impact us. Time and chance as Solomon states are factors that affect us, and are like mountains that can cordon off opportunities that we would desperately like to have.
For example a Jew born in 1880 would have much less of a chance of going to Israel than one born today.
A black person born in 1950 would have much less of a chance of attending college than one born today.
If we think of mountains as opportunities and dreams that we would like to have come to pass, it is easy to see how circumstances can sometimes cordon them off.
There is a greater truth, not simply that circumstances can keep us from things we want, but that God Himself, can and often does. Conversely He can open to us things that circumstances say we should never be able to attain.
Rev. 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Cathy's story:
A few years ago a woman and a man who were living together started coming to the church I pastor. She had gotten pregnant and was expecting. Though they weren't saved, they were beginning to seek the Lord. I was much in prayer for them. When it came time for the baby to be born, a horrible thing happened. In the birthing process the baby swallowed some of its own stool (meconium), and a dangerous reaction ensued. The whole church was praying for the baby to live, I remember praying that it would be a testimony of deliverance that would help push the parents over the edge to serve the Lord. Despite much prayer the child died. I had prayed that the mountain would be cast into the sea, but my mountain did not move at all. I was so personally devastated that the child died, in spite of prayer, I could not get myself to go to the hospital to see the grieving family. I felt I had nothing to say. In 20 years of ministry I had never been speechless before. These are the types of moments pastors are made for. Yet, I felt totally out of the water on this one. Thankfully, the story doesn't end here. A few days later a woman in my church went to the Hallmark store to try a get a card for the grieving mother. She was having a hard time finding something appropriate, when the store manager came over and asked if she could help. The woman explained the situation, and the store manager's face flushed and she walked away quickly, leaving the woman from my church flustered and confused. A few moments later the store manager came back, tears flowing down her cheeks, saying, "I also lost a child that way, here is a card I would have liked someone to send me." God is amazing! For that Hallmark store manager, I could not imagine anything that could have helped her more, than she herself counseling someone else in the exact same condition. The story of the Hallmark manager, and the card she recommended, brought great comfort to the grieving mother at the hospital, and shortly thereafter she and her husband (they married) gave their lives to Christ. I thought all was lost, I was speechless, God used this to show me, that sometimes its best He use others instead of the pastor. The mountain was cordoned off to me, but only so that something better could be done.
I want to share two brief principles about cordoned off mountains in this message:
1. If God don't want you there, you don't want to be there.
2. If your mountain is cordoned off, look for what isn't cordoned off.
IF YOUR MOUNTAIN IS CORDONED OFF:
1. If God don't want you there, you don't want to be there.
One of my professors in bible school was famous for his sayings. Two that I will always remember are: "What you feed grows, what you starve dies." Whole lotta preaching in that thought. The other is that he wanted us to learn to say to ourselves and God: "If its OK with you God, it is OK with me."
To demonstrate how impacting these little nuggets of his were to me, you need to realize that I never was in a class that professor taught! What sayings will you be known for?
Lets look at that second saying of his in conjunction with the thought that if God don't want you there, you don't want to be there. If God closes a door for us, or tells us no to something or someone, we need to realize that His way is best and say, "If its ok with you God that I _________ (fill in the blank), than its ok with me."
In other words if there is a relationship you feel God would not have you pursue or enter in to, than you need to acknowledge His Lordship, and His love for you that always picks the best path for you, by saying "God if its ok with you that I remain single for now, than its ok with me."
If God don't want you there, you don't want to be there. The only thing God is trying to keep you from is trouble. If you want something so bad that it would make you be mad at God if He doesn't give it to you, that alone ought to clue you that you are making a wrong choice. If its something that begins with disobedience with God, its no good.
God doesn't cordon off mountains because He doesn't want us to be happy. Quite the opposite, He is trying to prevent us from giving birth to an Ishmael. Ishmael was the son born to Abraham and his wife's slave named Hagar. From him descended many of the Arab peoples that today greatly trouble and vex the Jewish nation. If Abraham had been patient and waited for God, instead of going around His cordoned off area many troubles would be spared.
If God doesn't want you there, you don't want to be there.
2. If your mountain is cordoned off, look for what isn't cordoned off.
David wanted to build a house for God. God told Him He couldn't do it because....
The because doesn't matter, what matters is what God said about the matter and what David did about it.
What God said: 1Ki 8:18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
1Ki 8:19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
First God told David it was good that it was in his heart to do something God wouldn't let him do. The point is that sometimes God doesn't want us to do things that in and of themselves are good things to do. Yet God honors the fact we have good desires. The story doesn't end here, even though David couldn't see his dream fulfilled personally this is what happened:
1Ch 22:5 And David said, Solomon my son [is] young and tender, and the house [that is] to be builded for the LORD [must be] exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will [therefore] now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
David couldn't do it, but he could make it easier for Solomon to do! Maybe you can't go on the mission field, but you can make it easier for someone else to go. Maybe you are not a good enough musician to be on the worship team, you can pray for those who are. Maybe your book will never be published, but continuing to edit it may help you grow in the Lord. Focusing on what you can't do can lead to frustration and depression. Instead try asking God what you can do. He may give you a creative way to fulfill your desire.
Close: Prayer that people would submit to God's cordoned off areas. Prayer for those who have blown it and did things in disobedience and now are reaping consequences.
