Originally published Friday, 30 January 2015.
We plan our ways. We think we are heading the right direction - and then we get stopped. Dead in our tracks - we get stopped.
This can be so entirely frustrating when we are giving it our all, when we are trying our best and when we are submitting oursevles to the Lord's will.
Why would God hinder us?
Why would he present us with this type of problem?
With all of my heart I knew God called me to follow, to write and to speak for Him. And, with all that I am - I was being obedient to his call. I was seeking him as I climbed his tallest mountains of purpose.
That is, until I ran right into it...
Until a rock came right up against me and stopped me in my tracks.
It was a big opportunity that was quickly taken away from me.
It broke my heart.
As I stood face to face with the immensity of it, I immediately felt discouraged.
I couldn't move it.
I couldn't cut it.
I couldn't climb it.
Or push it.
It was outside of my control. It was no longer mine to have. It belonged to someone else.
Do you know how frustrating it is to feel blocked in life? To see where you need to be, but not to be there? How do we address the insurmountable rocks in our lives?
Because rocks, left unchecked,
turn into barriers that keep us angry.Rocks, left unchecked,
become heavy weights of uncertainty that make us question God's love.Rocks, left unchecked,
dwell our minds on the "what if's" and the "how come's".Rocks, left unchecked,
focus our heart on our performance verses God's.Rocks, left unchecked,
make us feel they will forever stay in our way.
Truly, when we focus on the size of the barrier before us,
we miss the size of our God above us.
When we focus on the obstacle in our way,
we don't realize that He may have a better way.
When we focus on how we can't move,
we start to feel like we have something to prove.
God has something better for us.
He has his promises:
- God is for us. (Romans 8:31)
- God has a plan. (Proverbs. 16:9)
- God's timing is perfect. (Ecclesiastes. 8:6)
- God renews our strength in a time of wait. (Isaiah 40:31)
- God’s ways are greater than ours. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
- There is no thwarting the purposes of the Lord. (Isaiah 14:27)
- God's will be done - not our will be done. (Luke 22:42)
- There's no one who can guide us like God. (James 1:5)
- Rocks in our path prove as opportunities to flex our faith muscles. (Romans 5:4)
- We can wallow in sadness or we can step forward in faith. (Hebrews 11:1)
- We are more than just conquerors in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:37)
- Never was there one victory of the Lord that wasn't accomplished. (1 Cor. 15:57)
- Nothing holds God back from his purposes. (Proverbs 19:21)
- We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13)
- As we lean on the Lord, he will faithfully guide us in his ways. (Psalm 32:8)
- God can move mountains. (Mark 11:23)
Sometimes the rocks that stand as the biggest barriers - are the rocks where we can best see Jesus. As we look up to him, he helps us get over them. He comes to our rescue. Where may fall and scrape ourselves a little, but he binds us up - bigger and better than we ever were. He uses the opportunity to grow us.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:6)
God can move any mountain that stands before us.
He may choose to move it, he may choose to quake it or he may just walk us right over it.
He said to them, “…For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
If he wants it gone - it will be gone. And, if he doesn't move it, he will pivot us. In the end, we will move towards greater faith, expanded trust and powerful confidence in his ways.
Let’s choose to believe this.
Let’s not give up.
Let’s push on to the goal the Lord has set before us, knowing that God is for us.
If God is for us, who can be against?
This rock may look like a barrier, but it's through this rock we will overcome - through the power of Christ who works within. Whether he leads us over, pivots us, crumbles the mountain or draws us closer to him - choose to cling to him, the solid rock.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
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