Well, here we are staring down the tunnel and 2022 is here. I think we did this last year didn’t we? The consensus was 2021 HAD to be better. How could 2021 be any worse? Well for most it was worse! Way worse.
Covid, politics, crime, looming wars, inflation and the list goes on. For many like myself the worse far exceeded anything I could imagine with the loss of my 18-year-old grandson Jamin. The depth of pain for our family will exist in one form or another till life ends for us and we go home to be reunited. Right now, taking an hour at a time the reunion feels like an eternity away.
How was your 2021? Does it leave you wishing for something much better? I can tell you what’s going to sustain no matter what the year brings.
I think this story will answer how that can be achieved.
“A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room was 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, 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, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind. “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 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 have an inch. 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 sinewy, your hands are calloused from constant pressure, your legs have grown stronger. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you have use to have. True, you haven’t moved that 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 a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains but know that it is still God who moves mountains.
So, let’s venture into 2022 with the following thoughts.
When everything seems to go wrong… just P.U.S.H.
When the job gets you down…just P.U.S.H.
When people don’t react the way you think they should…just P.U.S.H.
When you feel alone without a friend…just P.U.S.H.
When YOUR rock seems impossible to move…just P.U.S.H.
P = Pray
U = Until
S = Something
H = Happens
What’s 2022 bringing with it? I have no idea. Will it be better or worse than 2021? Again, I don’t know.
But I do know this. Prayer moves mountains?
