House of Hope Online

September 22, 2024

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Last week we talked about mountains, and we said while they offer beautiful views from their peaks, they also represent barriers in our lives.  Physically, a mountain is a barrier.  It offers protection from the storm, but it also can make travel difficult and even treacherous.

Likewise, in the Spirit realm, a mountain can be a holy place, as in the Mountain of the Lord, where God met with Moses and spoke with him.  But the Bible also describes a mountain as a barrier to believers that must be removed.  A mountain needs to be gotten over, it needs to be overcome by faith in Jesus and trusting Him to remove it.

We looked at what Jesus said in Mark 11:

Mark 11:

 23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be [granted] him.

 24 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be [granted] you.

I relayed to you last week that my mountain was my health situation.  If you have been following the blog or listening to the podcast, you know I have been diagnosed with a leaky heart valve, and recent tests have pointed to the need for a second open-heart procedure to replace the valve.  Last week I had one final test to confirm my cardiologist’s diagnosis.

In the time leading up to this final test, I latched onto Mark 11:23-24 and prayed it over myself.  I asked the Lord to remove my mountain.  I prayed for the faith required to take the mountain up and cast it into the sea.  I asked all of you to pray.  My family prayed.  We had a special communion service via a virtual meeting online with our family.  We rejoiced in the Lord and His lovingkindness.

On the day of the test, I had a tremendous peace come over me.  I love when His peace visits me.  There is nothing like it.  Nancy and I drove to the hospital, and I remember feeling the love of the Lord for the hospital staff.  While I experienced long wait times during prep, the Lord gave a forbearing spirit toward all.

As I look back on the day, I see that the word of the Lord from Philippians 4 was at work to comfort me.

Philippians 4:

 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

 5 Let your forbearing [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near.

 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The procedure at the hospital went well.  I was required to fast that day because they gave me anesthesia before they inserted a camera down my esophagus to get more accurate pictures and videos of my heart valve at work.  Everybody on staff kept asking if I had fasted to make certain there would be no issues.  When my cardiologist finally asked if I had eaten anything, I said: “Doc, I’m so hungry I could eat a camera.”

My little joke was part of the forbearing spirit that verse 5 encourages us to have toward all.  He smiled and seemed relieved that I had a sense of humor about it.

Shortly after that, they put me to sleep.  The procedure took only about 30 minutes, and I woke up as though I had taken a little nap.  There was no struggle to regain consciousness and no grogginess.  Dare I say I enjoyed the experience?  A better statement is: “the peace of God surpassed all comprehension.”

The peace of God continued to guard my heart and mind when my cardiologist came and told me that the test confirmed his diagnosis, and he would be referring me to the heart surgeon team to schedule surgery. 

What amazed me was I had no feelings of disappointment.  There were no feelings of devastation or forsakenness because my healing was not confirmed.  I thanked the doctor and continued to receive the peace of the Lord as He ministered to my spirit and guarded my heart and mind.

Later in the day, the Lord spoke into my spirit.  As I mentioned earlier, I had been hanging onto Mark 11 in which Jesus said that whoever says to this mountain be taken up and cast into the sea, without doubting in his heart, it shall be granted him.  I asked the Lord if I had doubt in my heart.  Did I not believe it would happen?

Jesus said to me: “No, it was not a lack of faith.  It was just that you were wrong about what your mountain was.  Your mountain was not a leaky heart valve; it was fear of open-heart surgery, and that mountain has in fact been taken up and cast into the sea.  That is why you have had such a persistent peace that surpasses all comprehension – because that fear mountain had been cast into the sea.”

And so now I realize that peace came over me because the fear is gone.  My mountain of fear has been taken up and cast into the sea.  I have been delivered from it.  No longer do I dread the prospect of open-heart surgery.  In fact, I am eager to get to the next step.  I have been praying now for wisdom in decision making.

I just want to praise the Lord for speaking into my spirit.  He comes through for us every day, but especially in the key moments of our lives.  When I was devastated by the results of my previous test, He spoke into me: “I’m not going back to Egypt,” referring to the place of unbelief and the place of bowing down to earthly kings instead of our One, True Lord and Savior.  It so uplifted me in my dark moment.

What I love about today’s word is that I was wrong about the mountain, but the Lord was still faithful to cast my mountain into the sea.  This reinforces the truth of God’s word in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in our weakness because we do not know how to pray as we should.

Romans 8:

 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?

 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 26 ¶ And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for [us] with groanings too deep for words;

 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to [the will of] God.

 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.

I prayed for healing of my heart valve, but the Holy Spirit knew that my mountain was fear of surgery.  He interceded for me with groanings too deep for words.  He who searches hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, and He intercedes according to the will of God.  And He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  I trust that He will use my situation to work together for good.

Closing

In closing, let me repeat Romans 8:24-25.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

I continue to hope in the Lord for what I do not yet see: a healed heart valve, but not because of fear of surgery.  I hope for it to work together for good, that faith would increase.  With perseverance I eagerly wait for a restored heart.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for peace that surpasses all comprehension.  Thank You for a forbearing spirit and thank You for speaking into my spirit a word that confirms Your promise that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf because we know not how to pray as we should.  Thank You, Lord for casting our mountain of fears into the sea.  We ask for guidance and wisdom in all matters as we move forward in our lives.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.