“There is an even bigger mountain that the tiniest bit of faith can move — the mountain of a human heart. It is the mountain of Jesus-as-last-resort, the hem of whose robe never crosses our minds until we have exhausted every other option. . . . The greatest mountain to be moved is a needy, tired heart that won’t run to Jesus except as a last resort. All you need is nothing; all you need is need.”- Scott Sauls
“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”- Matthew 17:20 (ESV)
Scott Sauls concludes Prologue 3 of Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen with the observation that Isaiah takes note that the hem of God’s robe filled the temple with glory (Isaiah 6:1). And in the New Testament, a woman who suffered from twelve years of incurable bleeding touched the hem of Jesus’ robe (Luke 8:43-48).
Therefore, Pastor Sauls underscores, God wants this one thing most from you. That you admit your not-enough-ness. Because God deeply cares about what He can do for you, He ignores your moral-virtue resume. And even though God’s holy, haunting gaze penetrates to the core where your darkest secrets and vilest motives lie, He never rejects you.
Yet, Scott notes, we often limp through life in quiet despondency. We think that if we played God, we’d possess the same opinion about ourselves that He does. Rather, God wants to meet you on the ground where the hem of His robe awaits you. Your hurt, fear, and regret serve as the very occasion for God’s healing mercy. Instead of a barrier to it.
In conclusion, Dane Ortlund writes in Gentle and Lowly (Crossway, 2020) that our:
” . . . regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels through which divine mercy passes but homes in which divine mercy abides. . . . our sins do not cause [God’s] love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge forward all the more.”
Today’s question: Do you truly believe mustard seed faith moves the mountain of a human heart? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Opening the eyes of human hearts”
