Keep on pushing...

I heard this story years ago and it has been my go-to 'comfort' food for my soul when things are tough and doubts creep in:

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God 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.

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, 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. Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind. (He will do it every time!)

You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough."

That's what the weary man planned to do but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to 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 of 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 shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.

Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, 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. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will 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 know that it is still God Who moves the mountains. 

To doubt is to be human. I have spent many a sleepless night doubting if I'm doing this "mothering" thing right. Anxiety has been one of the "boulders" that I and my girls have had to face. When Emily was young, she would not want to get on the bus. The dread of her day at school was so immense, that she would cry in the mornings before walking out to the bus. So there went the bus down the street …with my heart along for the ride.    Counselors equipped her with tools to fill her "mental health backpack" even at such a young age and looking back, I see how resilient she became from facing that fear.  She could face many challenging situations that followed with peace because of the tools she learned to deal with her anxiety at school.    

I’ve heard that a chick hatching is a painful process to watch and that if a human is watching it is extremely difficult not to help the fragile creature to tear its way out into the great unknown.  But if it is aided in the process, it will die when it finally comes out, because it will not have the strength it needs to survive.  So, it is with raising children.  If we don’t let them experience failure or face trials on their own, they will not have the wings to fly when it’s time to.  Perhaps our job is to keep encouraging them to “push the boulder” that is before them so that they can grow stronger as God is preparing to move the mountains ahead.