Matthew 17:20-21 – “And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.  21 [” But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]  NASB

I am sure they did not have the saying “When pigs fly” in Jesus’ day, but I am sure they had something that would be akin to it.  The phrase is an adynaton – a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes impossibility!   I wonder if that is what the disciples thought when Jesus spoke to them about moving the mountain.  I know that I have said things to people both from the pulpit and in one-on-one situations where the look on their faces said, “Yeah, when pigs fly.” 

I am sure that when Gideon’s band heard his plan, somebody in the crowd thought, “Yeah, when pigs fly.”  What about the onlookers when David went to face Goliath?  Do you suppose that there were any skeptics in that crowd?  I have seen miracles and fully believe in God’s ability and willingness to do them in our day.  I can testify to that in my own life.  Let me give you a testimony of His miraculous healing personally and in my family.

When I was in Bible College, my mother had an accident through which she was paralyzed from the waist down, and the X-rays revealed a broken back.  I was in Palestine, Texas, with a group from school when a lady from my home church tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “How’s your mother?”  I know the look on my face was so puzzled that she asked, “Don’t you know?”  

I did not know anything, and when she informed me that Mother was in the hospital in Crockett, I immediately told some in our group that I was heading to the hospital immediately and asked them to pray.  Upon arrival at the hospital, she was in a terrible condition, and the look in her eyes offered no hope.  The weight of the world was resting on my shoulders as I went to the lobby and called a friend at school and asked that they have prayer for her in our school revival. 

I returned to school on Tuesday and went to bed with a high fever.  On Wednesday evening in the service, the Holy Spirit used a testimony of the evangelist, and I knew in my heart that Mother was healed.  Ten people came to me after the service and said the same thing about the testimony. 

I went to see her that weekend, and there was no change on Saturday.  I told her what I felt in the service and assured her that she would be okay.  The next day after church, I went back to the hospital, and I could see a change.  She looked at me and said, “Last night, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, ‘Get up.” At that moment, she sat up in the bed, swung her feet to the side, and stood up.  She said, “He told me I was well but to stay in bed until the doctor took another X-ray as a witness to everyone what He had done.”  

My dad called me at school the next day and said, “The doctor is amazed because your mother can walk, and the 2^nd X-ray shows no broken bones whatsoever.”  I was jubilant.  He then said, “The doctor has decided that the first X-rays were flawed.”  I asked to see a copy of both sets of X-rays because my mother and I knew what had happened, even if others were willing to accept an explanation that did not require God’s miraculous work.

When I told her what I expected before God finished the work, some in the room looked at me with the expression that said, “When pigs fly.”  Well, PIGS FLEW!  I have had broken bones healed, miraculous provision of finances, cancer healed, and entertained angels unaware until after the encounter and, from confirmed information, found that their presence in several instances was God’s divine protection sparing my life.  So, when it comes to God, I believe that the proverbial PIG CAN FLY! 

None of that was about me.  I relate that account not to call attention to me but to the incredibleness of God and His awesome power and love!  God did not heal my mother because I was some great man of mega-faith, but because we asked and He loved her, as He does everyone!   He said, “Call, and I will Answer.”  We called, and He answered!

I do not know what your particular need is right now, but I know that no matter the problem, we serve a God big enough to solve them, and through it all, He will never leave you nor forsake you!  I cannot explain God, nor do I try to explain why one time there is a miracle and another there is not. 

As I have said to families in times of loss and suffering, the question is not “Why?” but “Where to from here?”  During a crisis is not the time to question God’s character (no time is), but it is a time to ask for His guidance.  The Cross should be evidence of His undying love for us; the crisis is not a sign of his casting us aside. Instead, it is an opportunity for us to lean more heavily upon Him and depend more completely upon His love and care.  Do not go through life looking at things and saying, “When Pigs Fly.”  Go through life and say, “With God, the pigs will fly.”

May God be with you on this day and guide you through whatever you face with His love, mercy, power, and grace.  Blessings abundantly!