Pearls from the Web

Don't Think, Just Push

Adapted by brother-initiate Vincent Nguyen,
Virginia, USA (Originally in English)

There once was a man who fell asleep in his cabin when all of a sudden his room was filled with Light and God appeared. The Lord told the man that He had a job for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of the cabin. The Lord explained to him that he was to simply push against the rock with all his might.

Then with his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, the man carried out his task day after day for many years, toiling with all his might from sun up to sun down. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling as if his whole day had been spent in vain.

Satan observed that the man was showing signs of discouragement and so he decided to enter the picture and place thoughts into the man’s mind such as, “You’ve been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You’re never going to move it,” thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

Naturally, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more and he thought to himself, “Why kill yourself over this? I’ll put in my time, but only give the minimum of effort and that should be good enough.”

He then planned to do just that until one day he decided to pray over the matter and take his troubling thoughts to the Lord, saying, “Lord, I’ve labored long and hard in Your service. Putting all my strength into doing that which You’ve asked. Yet, after all this time, I haven’t even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What’s wrong? Why am I failing?”

To this the Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me, I told you that your task was simply to push against the rock with all your strength. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push and that you’ve done. Now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you’ve failed. But, is that really so? Look at you. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back brown, your hands callused from constant pressure and your legs massive and hard. Through opposition you’ve grown much and your abilities now surpass those which you use to have.

True, you haven’t moved the rock, but your calling was to be obedient, to push and exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom, and this you’ve done. I, my friend, will now move the rock.”

This story demonstrates that at times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what Hes wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Hirm. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is ultimately God Who moves mountains.