“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 18:2 NIV
Monday:
One foot in front of the other I started walking down the driveway with Mabel on the other end of the leash. I walked around the dreaded potholes that grow with every rain. For months I’ve walked past them, drove around them, and have complained I haven’t had time to fix them. It’s either the weather is bad, my health is bad, or my schedule is full, so the holes continue to grow. I was walking beside the creek and looking at all of the rocks on the ground thinking, “If I had the time and energy, I could get some of these rocks to fill in the potholes.” I quickly became irritated again as I stared at the ground feeling sorry for myself. But the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Either change it or stop complaining about it!” I stood there puzzled at how blunt the Lord spoke to me and wondered if my constant nitpicking of everything annoys him as much as it does me. I asked him, “How am I supposed to change it?” The Lord said, “Pick up that rock and carry it!” Without question I picked up the rock I had been staring at and I carried it back to the pothole. After placing the rock in the pothole the Holy Spirit said, “Now repeat until it’s filled.”
I walk each dog separately which makes four walks a day and for the past week I have collected and carried many rocks of all shapes and sizes to the driveway. Every time I stood by the water I would hear the Holy Spirit say, “Pick up that rock and carry it!” I thought to myself I might as well since I’m going that way anyway. As I bent down to pick up a rock I heard the Lord say so softly, “Now pick up your cross and carry it.”
What does it mean to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? It means to deny yourself and surrender to God’s will. I don’t know why God wants me to pick up rocks and carry them all the way from the creek but by submitting to him I’m curious to find out. After all, I’m going that way anyway.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Psalms 119:11, NIV
Tuesday
It is day two of walking the dogs and filling the potholes in the driveway with rocks I gather from the creek. As I looked for a big one to carry I realized I could fill my coat pockets with smaller rocks to fill the hole quicker. Although the hole was getting filled faster, I was moving slower from all the added weight. I walked up the steep hill thinking about all the times we try to take on more than we can handle and instead of coming out ahead we are pulled down by our choices. When I reached the driveway I pulled the rocks from my coat pockets and as I dropped them in the hole, one by one I imagined each rock representing a burden or sin I had been carrying around with me. I imagined as the rock fell from my hand that God took it and threw it in the depths of the sea and I was set free. Jesus said in Matthew, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV). By carrying the heavy rocks I realized my problems are only heavy if I carry them alone. Jesus carried the weight of the world on his shoulders when he carried the cross to save us from sin. As I walked away from the driveway I couldn’t help but think about how life is like a road full of potholes, bumpy, uneven, crumbling, and sometimes painful to go through. It holds the waste the world pours out and either pollutes you or dries up and leaves you empty. Only God can fill the holes within us to make us whole, isn’t it funny that we have to have holes to become whole through him so we can become holy? God’s word fills us up when we are empty and each time we memorize one bible verse we are filling a dark hole within us with light. If we feed our soul God’s truth then it won’t fill up with waste like the rain which fills the pothole then becomes stagnant with disease. At first a lie might feel like a cool drink of water, refreshing to the body but as it sits, the lies become poison. Don’t let the world feed you lies, instead, fill up on God’s word and see how many bible verses you can carry in your heart. I bet we can fit more bible verses in our hearts than I can fit rocks in my pockets! I will continue my quest to carry rocks from the creek as I walk the dogs because God is telling me that he has more to teach me. After all, I’m going that way anyway.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9, NIV
Wednesday
Imagine how different your life could be if every time things seem hard you just take one step at a time? If the textbook is too thick, take it one chapter at a time. If the recovery time from a health issue takes months, take it one day at a time. If you owe one hundred dollars but can only pay ten dollars at a time, pay ten dollars at a time. Little things add up and turn into big accomplishments. If your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you can still move mountains. How do you move a whole mountain you might ask? The answer… one rock at a time. “Jesus told them, “Because you have little faith. I can guarantee this truth: if your faith is the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” When our faith is weak and little, we need to exercise it to grow its strength. With each day I carried many rocks from the creek and each rock I carried became lighter and lighter, so I managed to carry more. Eventually, I had rocks stuffed in all my pockets! As the rocks became lighter, my faith became stronger in God and in myself to accomplish my goal. I wasted all that time complaining about the potholes when God already gave me everything I needed to complete the job, I just had to move then pick up my cross. One step at a time, one day at a time, one rock at a time I began to see the full picture. I thanked God for the lesson and the ability to walk the dogs and carry the rocks. I was standing at the edge of the water when I heard him say, “you were going that way anyway.”
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8, NIV
Thursday
Noon came quickly and I was behind on my morning chores. The dogs were getting restless because they wanted to go for their walks but I made them wait so I could finish some stuff around the house. I scrambled to get myself together and head out the door while reminding myself that I had to pick up rocks and see what lesson the Lord had for me today. I made it to the edge of the hay field when I heard God speaking in the way only he knows how to. He began giving me another lesson to which I responded by picking up a tree limb that washed up from the last flood, I pulled it over to a brush pile where I thought if I pick up a stick every time I walk a dog eventually they will all be cleaned up. After all, I’m going that way anyway. Each walk I started down through the hay field with a dog at the other end of the leash, I would pick up a limb/stick or two and throw it into the brush pile. Once we made it to the creek I would pick up some rocks and carry them back to the pothole. I realized we are like sticks and stones scattered among the land, out of place and waiting for our purpose so we can use our gifts and talents to their full potential. God picks us up and places us where we are meant to be if we allow him to use us. The random tree limbs and sticks are now piled up and ready to use for campfires over the cool summer nights or as shelter for the wild animals, and the rocks are placed in the potholes making the holes disappear and the driveway smoother. I was like the rock I picked up on the first day at the creek, I didn’t have a purpose until God picked me up and used me. In Ecclesiastes it talks about how there is a time for everything under the heavens, and I believe when the time is right God uses each of us to accomplish tasks he appoints to us. We are all on a journey that takes us to some place new but it’s what we do on the way that determines who we are in Christ. Wherever we go we should make things better than we found them, after all we’re going that way anyway.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16, NIV
Friday
Day after day I repeated the tasks which God gave me and what I learned was that as we walk the path of life we can either complain about the situation, or we can change it. We can make the world a better place by leaving everywhere we go better than we found it or not, and I was reminded that there is a time for every activity on earth, whether it’s cleaning up sticks, picking up rocks, filling in holes, holding the door open for the person walking behind, allowing someone to safely merge in front on the highway, or simply smiling at a stranger in the grocery store. These are all positive things we can do throughout our day to show God’s spirit because after all we’re going that way anyway.
I stood on the edge of the creek where the Holy Spirit told me to pick up the first rock, I couldn’t help but smile at how such a small act could make such a huge impact on my outlook on life. Each day that passed God taught me something new from the things I ordinarily overlook, he gave me a deeper meaning into his creation and showed me that he is the true foundation of all there is. I closed my eyes and took a moment to ask Jesus to stand beside me, I could feel his hands on my shoulders, I thanked him for sacrificing himself for my sins and carrying the rugged cross up the hill for me so that he could open the way to heaven and give me a way to the Father. His sacrifice gave him a way to gather me and take me with him just as I gathered the rocks to take up the hill for their intended purpose. To which he replied, “I was going that way anyway.”