{"id":522,"date":"2019-11-18T16:40:39","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T16:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/?p=522"},"modified":"2023-07-06T17:47:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T17:47:22","slug":"not-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shelteredingrace.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/18\/not-finished\/","title":{"rendered":"The BIG Rock Wins!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read any good books lately?  There is a stack sitting on my bookshelf just waiting to be read.  I’m in the middle of about four as this is being written.  One of those is “The Domino Effect” by Tim Lewis.  Those of you who regularly keep up with our facebook page have probably noticed a few quotes from this book.  It is one of those practical books that manages to make you think about simple things in a very personal way.  It digs into decision making and how “life is a chain reaction”.  One decision leads to the next, one event leads to another and life goes on.  Often we are in control of those decisions and events but sometimes we are just the happy or (unhappy) recipient of someones else’s decision.  It is in these situations we find ourselves…<\/p>\n

“growing closer to God OR drifting further from Him”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“…God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”  <\/em><\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 10:13<\/em><\/p>\n

This quote really hit my heart.  As we are closing in on 2020, it seems to be a good time to start looking back on 2019 and consider this thought…growing closer or drifting further.<\/p>\n

There have been times this past year where I did GREAT!  I was growing closer by leaps and bounds while hopping along in lollipop land.  Then…ever so slowly, I’d feel myself getting sucked under the currents of life, unhappy memories or just simply being tired.  Nothing major, just a little disappointment here, a little challenge there, and before long the leaps and bounds had stopped and I’d be frantically kicking just keeping up with the current.  Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

I’ve got this little pile of rocks on the bathroom ledge.  No reason for them to be there other than I’m just too lazy to walk 50 feet to throw them out in the drive until there’s a pile.  Here’s what happens.  I go outside and one of those little rocks will get stuck in my shoe (think Sketchers).  I walk inside and can hear it scraping against the floor.  About that time I’ve walked through our bedroom and the bathroom is right there.  I lean against the doorframe, take out the rock and put it in the pile.  And you know what? It gets bigger little by little. That pile is just like life.  We allow disappointments and challenges to pile up, accumulate, and instead of immediately getting rid of them, we set them neatly in a pile until…  the inevitable happens.  The little pile of rocks start to spill over and we are forced to pick them up…one by one…and deal with them.<\/p>\n

“Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually”<\/em><\/p>\n

1 Chronicles 16:11<\/em><\/p>\n

What does that pile of rocks represent in real life?  My list will be different than yours but here are just a few.  I allow (yes, allow) myself to get too busy. Something seems too difficult at the time to deal with so instead of buckling down I simply throw it on the pile.  Instead of seeing others through the eyes of Christ – I see them through mine, and honestly, Christ’s eyes are much kinder than mine are.  I get distracted by the noise of the world.  Sometimes I try to be tactful when brutal honesty is needed – the flip side – sometimes brutal honesty is used when tact would have been a better choice.  There are times I look at someone who is struggling and think “get a grip” instead of showing the love and empathy of Christ.  Each of those rocks represent a time I drifted further from THE ONE who created me.<\/p>\n

But…we serve a mighty, loving and forgiving God.<\/p>\n

We serve a God who rolled the biggest rock of all away from a tomb.  A rock that represents every bad choice, every petty thought, every time I drifted.  Rolled away…effortlessly.  Why?  God knew we needed hope.  He knew we would drift…He knew we needed to see how that BIG ROCK had opened the door to promise.  A promise of forgiveness, clarity and grace.  A rock we can lean on that will never move, never shift.<\/p>\n

“…they went to the tomb…and they were saying, “Who will roll away the stone for us?”…and looking up, they saw the stone had been rolled away”<\/em><\/p>\n

Mark 16:2-4<\/em><\/p>\n

So the question must be asked…How do I change?  How do I focus on drawing closer to Him?  Looking forward these are some of the decisions I have chosen to put into practice…<\/p>\n