Nepal is one of the world’s biggest producers of mustard seeds. It also is home to the world’s tallest mountain. Matthew 17:20 says, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus spoke these words to his disciples of little faith when they questioned why they were unable to drive out an evil spirit from a possessed man.
Yesterday, my team was in a slum area and we encountered a very disturbed and emotional man. As he dropped to his knees wailing in Nepalese, he begged for prayer. We circled around him, laying hands on him, and murmured prayers for rescue. As I watched this man pleading and crying, his demeanor changed and he became serious and monotone. A few moments later his voice resorted back to its original sporadic and emotional wailing. This happened a few times while we were all praying over him and I was hit by an uneasy realization that there was something dark in this man. Something not from God. The entire situation lasted about ten minutes and I have no idea what the man was saying. However, our team’s translator expressed to us that he could sense a deep anger and hatred in this desperate man. He said that he was using scripture against God, like how Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness. When the man finally calmed down, opened his eyes, and rose to his feet, he thanked us for praying. As we walked away, I left the room feeling weird and unsettled. It felt like unfinished business. I sensed that whatever evil that was inside of him hadn’t completely left. There is merely a comma in whatever this man is battling, and not a period. And the more that I think about it…although it wasn’t the ideal ending I would’ve liked to witness, I am still encouraged by what happened.
Here is this man in Nepal, a Hinduism-saturated nation, living in a dirty slum area against a backdrop of surreal, Himalayan mountains. He clearly has some kind of bad spirit taking hold of him and in his moment of despair, desperately searching for release, he is answered with many Holy Spirit-filled hands on him. We may not have cast out whatever was in him, and I’m slowly becoming okay with that. Because the Lord is in control and everything is in his own timing. He has the power and the authority over all the demons. Although I don’t know why the man we encountered didn’t experience freedom, I believe he will someday. I have faith that all of our mustard seeds will take root in him and that other mustard seeds will come his way, too. I once heard a quote that says, “You can’t plant the seed and eat the fruit on the same day.” So here’s to hoping and praying that later on, the seeds we planted will spring up and that the man will discover freedom and victory in Jesus. I believe that the mountain will move. After all, we’re in the second-largest producing nation of mustard seeds.
