A man was sleeping at night in his
cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior
appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and
showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that
the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man
did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down,
his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the
unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.
Each night the man returned to his
cabin sore, and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in
vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, that
Wicked One decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the
man's weary mind:
"You have been
pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't budged. Why
kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it. "
Thus giving the man the impression that
the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these thoughts
discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over
this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum
effort and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to
do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his
troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long
and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which
you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged
that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
The Lord responded compassionately, "My
friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you
that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength,
which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I
expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to
me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is
that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and
muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from
constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard.
Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now
surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock.
But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your
faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. I, my child, will now
move the rock."
At times when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is
just simple obedience and faith in Him....... By all means,
exercise the faith that moves mountains; but remember that it is
still God who moves the mountains.
