What Are We To Conclude

What are we to conclude when the bible doesn't work?

When I was a kid I was told that if I had faith I could move mountains.  Since I loved to snow ski, and since the mountains were more than one hour drive away (which I hated), I would often pray that the mountains to be moved closer to my house.  I even tried "commanding" them (some folks in the know said that was the right thing to do).

The mountains which were the laser focus of my young prayers still sit in the same spot.

It's been 50 years.

I think that is enough time for God to act.

But nothing happened.

I know many people who have been seriously damaged because they prayed for healing, or for financial help, or relief from a temptations they could not bear, or for wayward children, based upon promises they claimed from the bible and nothing happened.

How are we to make sense of this?

The bible lies?  We don't understand what the bible is actually saying?  We harbor sin?  God doesn't care?  We don't have "enough" faith?  Our requests are selfish?  Or, we have no answers right now but we'll understand it better by and by?

I was also told as a kid that if I "hid God's word in my heart" it would keep me from sinning.  Boy, what a deal!!  I quickly started memorizing verse after verse after verse . . . hundreds of verses . . . thousands of verses . . . entire books of the bible . . .

I still sinned.

Much later in life I learned that "the Word became flesh".

Hmmmm, could this be an answer that makes sense?

He became one of us . . . lived . . . died . . . then sent His very Spirit to live within us.

Maybe "hiding God's Word in my heart so I might not sin" didn't mean memorizing bible verses but rather something totally different and totally better!

"Knowing" written words is not my burning focus any longer.  Rather, knowing, listening to, communing with, the living Christ who dwells in me . . . aaaaaand, what do you know!! . . . sin looses it's pull and power and allure!

At least the bible is right that hiding God's Word in our hearts beats back sin's power but . . . I'm still working on that mountain thing.