Move That Mountain | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Move That Mountain | Previous Challenge Entry
By Pauline Carruthers
11/06/13
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Move That Mountain

A sudden beam of sunlight cast myriads of tiny rainbows from the crystal ornament hanging in the window. I was sitting in what I liked to call my prayer chair, tears of sadness turning to joy as I was reminded that nothing is impossible for God. But I was so tired of hearing the words, “It’s impossible.”

When God had uprooted us from the Printing Ministry in a Missionary headquarters we had felt led to start up a Christian Printing Press and God had provided a Unit on a trading estate and in the absence of a minister, a home in the church manse.

Expecting to start with small things it was a surprise to be asked to print seven thousand copies of the Gospel of Matthew in a language unknown to us. Once again we were thrown on the Lord’s mercy, as experience told us it was a big job for just the two of us. But in faith we began the preparation. Finance was scarce, but once again the Lord went before us and a substantial deposit arrived.

A soft summer drizzle sprayed gently from a dove grey sky, trickled endlessly down the Unit’s windows as the paper was unloaded. It almost filled our small unit and I wondered just how we would convert this mountain into books. But mountains are made to be climbed, as my husband kept encouraging me!

Many curious visitors called regularly to see how we were doing, exclaiming incessantly,

“It’s impossible. You’ll never make the deadline.”

I assured each one that we would, which was usually met with a knowing look and a cliché that said we wouldn’t. But the carrier and the ship were booked. We could not miss the deadline. We prayed almost without ceasing, secretly coveting big time equipment as blank paper went through the print process to emerge as books. I consistently prayed,

“Lord, please don’t allow me to collate wrongly or miss out a section . This book is going to dark places for Your glory.”

We were exhausted, but the mountain of sealed boxes grew and on the last week the Lord sent help. A young man just returned from University offered help with the packing. With the word impossibility still ringing in our ears we met the deadline just before midnight on the Saturday night. The carrier was arriving on Monday. My husband telephoned our customer to give him the good news. The sound of voices cheering echoed down the ‘phone line. He was in the middle of a prayer meeting and they were praying for the books.

Now here we were once again, facing the impossible. We were looking forward to welcoming our new minister and his family to the church and they would soon be moving into the manse. The Trading Estate was closing so we needed new premises. We were ticking along nicely, building a solid reputation, but we didn’t have the finance in place for a home or new premises. Another mountain of impossibilities and cliché’s.

On a morning when the trees bowed in a strong wind and the leaves blew across the manse garden, I sat cross legged on the floor packing glassware in newspaper. The warmth of the room gave a dreamy feeling and my gaze was drawn to the property page of a commercial newspaper. A detached house, fitting the description of one a friend had described to me as being our new home, was pictured in the top corner.

The house, which had been converted into ground floor business premises and upper floor family apartment was big enough to house the Press and our family, but we didn’t have the finance for the deposit. Trusted missionary friends had challenged us to put in an offer if we were really certain that this was where the Lord was leading.

Did I really want to enter into another round of impossibilities. I didn’t feel ready, but we viewed the house and as we stood on the driveway with the owner and the agent, David said,

“Well we don’t have the deposit but we believe God has led us to this house and we would like to offer the full asking price.”

I couldn’t believe my husband had just said that.

So here I was, sitting in my prayer chair, watching a crystal ornament casting a myriad of rainbows on the wall. It was another time of waiting, but suddenly I knew that very soon we would be flying once again.

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