PUSH

Well, here we are, nearing the end of another year. And if anyone in the generations behind me want to know if the rumor about the years whizzing by the older you get is true or not, I’ll witness to that, and affirm the rumor is true. The problem with the years slipping by faster and faster is how I critique my time. I used to look at my day to warrant success or disappointment in how I spent my time. That slipped into weeks, then months, then seasons and now years. Life seems to get so busy and we fill every waking hour causing the days to rush by in a blur. I think my best days, weeks, months, seasons and or years is when I’m learning and applying something new. Maybe that’s why time sort of runs slow when you’re young, there’s so much to learn. Well, I’ve got to confess this past year has flown by like a jet, which apparently indicates that I’m in a rut. Illness has sort of finished off this year on a sour note and as I think about it, maybe it’s my lackluster that’s brought about some of it. Oh well, onward and upward.
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 he was to push against the rock with all his might. So, this the man did, day after day. For many years the man 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, tired 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 weary mind of the man. “You’ve 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, give just a minimal 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 take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord”, he started, “I’ve 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 budged that rock. What is wrong? Why am I failing?” The Lord responded, “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 I expected you to move it. Now you come to me, strength spent, thinking you have failed. Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is strong, your hands are callused, and your legs are 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.”
[James 5: 13-20] When everything seems to go wrong; when the job gets you down; when others don’t react the way you think they should; when there’s too much month at the end of the money; when people just don’t understand you; PUSH!! – Pray Until Something Happens! Be obedient in all things, and God will remove the mountains.