Once upon a time, there was a man who was
sleeping at night in his cabin
when suddenly
his room filled with light and the Saviour
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, Satan
decided to enter the picture placing thoughts
into the
man's mind such as: "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 even more. "Why kill
myself over this?"
he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just
the
minimum of effort and that will be good enough."
And that 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 laboured 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 a half a millimeter.
What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
To this the Lord responded compassionately,
"My child, when long
ago 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, 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."
~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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