ENCOURAGEMENT

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 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.  We are called to obey God, do what we can and then God will do the rest!

(This is an old story that was passed down via email the author is anonymous)