KEEP PUSHING…

Introductory Comments:  (by Jake)

I have no idea where this article came from, other than it got forwarded to my e-mail address quite some time ago.  I just happened to read through it again today and decided to share it on this blog.  I suspect that there are a lot of people needing what it has to say.  I’ll close the post with a short conclusion.  Enjoy!

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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.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong…Just P.U.S.H.

When people don’t do as you think they should…Just P.U.S.H.

When your money is “gone” and the bills are due…Just P.U.S.H.

When people just don’t understand you…Just P.U.S.H.

• P = Pray
• U = Until
• S = Something
• H = Happens

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

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For anyone that has read the previous post, you are aware that my aged father just passed away.  Over the years, I had often wondered how he would be able to fulfill what the Bible calls the “Great Commission”, found at the end of the Book of Mark in the New Testament.  My father spoke broken English with a heavy accent—even after having been in America since 1952.  Dad did not own his own home when he died, had no possessions to speak of other than a 1997 Toyota pickup.  He ran a ranch that did not belong to him and had limited contact with the outside world.  Dad did go to church regularly, but would not be one to get into a debate with anyone that had a different belief system because he would have a difficult time expressing himself sufficiently.  I could go on…

Yet, in preparing his funeral, I found that he touched lives everywhere he went.  Everyone made the same comments about my father.  They said that he was the kindest man they had ever known, and he made a point of making sure that everyone felt better after he saw them.  Just a few words that would accurately describe the person he was are these:

• Integrity
• Honesty
• Dependability
• Patience
• Loyalty
• Generosity
• Soft heart
• Godliness
• Love for people
• Blameless lifestyle
• Peaceful
• Gentle
• Self-controlled
• Faithful
• Ready to meet His God at any moment!

It may seem that I’m bragging on my dad, and in a way I suppose I am.  I loved my father very much.  This is not my purpose though.  My intent is to show that my father lived a life that exemplified someone pushing on a massive rock all his life and not seeing the results of his obedience to the God that created him.  His life was a duplicate of the storyline that Morgan Freeman played in the movie “Driving Miss Daisy”, which was a huge Hollywood hit many years ago.  It’s rather uncanny.

Before I spoke the words for dad’s eulogy, God spoke to me quite clearly and promised me that the fruit coming from my father’s death would far surpass the fruit of his 86 year sojourn on this planet.  This is something that only God can know, and only God can bring about.  God never says something that He does not bring about—guaranteed!

So…do you find yourself in a place where you think your life isn’t producing anything worthwhile ?  Do you think God has left you in the salt mines and has forgotten you?  Do you think that every price you’ve paid over the years in serving God has been a waste?  Do you think you’re a “has-been”?  I suspect God has a much different view of you, your life, and your obedience to Him, than you do—or others for that matter.  Don’t judge God’s opinion of you or your life by the opinions of infallible humans.  God know the heart!  He is the only One that does!!  If you find yourself lacking, it is a very easy thing to remedy!!  God’s “red phone” is never busy when you need to get hold of Him!  Read and meditate carefully on this verse below.  It’s a good one!!

• …But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.  Yet what is due me is in the LORD’S hand,and my reward is with my God.” (Isaiah 49: 4)

Be encouraged—not in what you can accomplish, but in what God can do through you—whether you see it or not!

The KING of Kings and LORD of Lords may be coming sooner than you think!

Jake