Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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I usually ask for a window seat on an airplane. Usually aisle seats are more popular because you can stretch your legs a little more. Mine are so short they have plenty of room, no matter where I sit! And you can get up when you want to, and when you don't want to because the two guys on the inside want to get out. Actually, I always have so much to get done during the flight I like to just set up my little nest there by the window where I can work without getting up or passing food. Unfortunately, I'm so busy sometimes I miss those things worth looking at out my window, which is right there in front of me. I was flying recently with one of our team members and I was really missing the beautiful scenery of the Rocky Mountains below me; I didn't even think about them being there. Well, my colleague got my attention, not by reaching over and pointing and shouting, "Hey, look at those mountains, man!" No, he did it with a simple little observation. He said, "You know, mountains sure look a lot smaller from this perspective don't they?" I got the message.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Mountain Shrinking."
Growing up in flat old Illinois, the Rocky Mountains looked pretty impressive; I mean huge to me. Some of them are over 14,000 feet high! But, even the biggest ones don't look all that big when you're able to look at them from above. It can be that way with other mountains, too. Like the mountain facing you right now. Maybe the finances look huge, the obstacles, the opposition, maybe your medical situation, or what's happening at work, or at school, or at home. Looking up at it, it's enough to overwhelm you! You need to look at that mountain from above.
That's what they did in our word for today from the Word of God. In Acts 4, the early Christians have been told not to preach anymore about Jesus. The people telling them that are not lightweights; they are the leaders of their nation - the people who arranged for the execution of Jesus. In a sense, they have the power of life or death. So, when they say, "or else!" they mean it! They can do some serious damage.
Our word for today from the Word of God begins in Acts 4:24, speaking of the first Christians. It says, "When they heard this they raised their voices together in prayer to God. 'Sovereign Lord,' they said, "you made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. They did what your power and your will had decided beforehand." They're speaking of the people who executed Jesus there. And then they go on, "Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak Your Word with great boldness." Man, they're going totally against all the opposition. When they started praying, they were looking up at a mountain that looked huge, but by the time they finished praying, they were looking down on their mountain and it looked a whole lot smaller. Why? Because they chose to focus on the size of their God, rather than the size of their problem.
You may say, "Well, I pray about it but it doesn't help." That might be because you don't remember who this is you are praying to - who you are with when you pray! This is the Sovereign Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. He's the Creator of everything and everyone in your situation. He's the One whose power and will cannot be thwarted - even in the crucifixion of Jesus. In other words, when you pray you are standing in the throne room from which a hundred billion galaxies are governed. And when you look at a mountain from the throne room of God, it looks like an ant hill!
The Bible says what happened after this prayer time. It tells us the early Christians "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." They went out and they rocked their world! The mountains shrank when they prayed and they were intimidated no more! Now, you've been looking at your mountain from down below long enough haven't you? In prayer, in the throne room of God, get above that mountain and see how small it is compared to the Lord who fights for you.