A man was sleeping in his cabin one night
when suddenly his room was filled with light
and the Savior 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.
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.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of
discouragement, Satan decided to enter the
picture by placing doubts into the man’s weary
mind. “You have been pushing against the
rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged. Why
kill yourself over this? You are never going
to move it.” He gave the man the impression
that the task was impossible and that he was
a failure. Discouraged and disheartened, the
The Pinecone
|
July 2014
• 9 •
f r om Don J oh n s on , K i r b y P i n e s Chap l a i n
Chaplain’s COrner
Why Am I Failing?
July Vesper Services
July 3rd
Reverend Jimmy Latimer
Redeemer Evangelical Church
July 10th
Reverend Joe Jernigan
Bellevue Baptist Church
July 17th
Reverend Dr. Elvernice “Sonny” Davis
Retired United Methodist Minister
July 24th
Barry Grider
Forest Hill Church of Christ
July 31st
Pastor Tiffany McClung
Peace Lutheran
man thought, “Why kill myself? I’ll just put in
my time, giving minimum effort and that will
be good enough.”
But before settling into mediocrity in his
mission, he decided to make his problem a
matter of prayer. He took his thoughts to the
Lord saying, “Lord, I have labored long and
hard in your service, putting all my strength
to do what you have asked. Yet, after all this
time, I have not even budged the rock one
inch. What’s 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 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 have come to me with your
strength spent, thinking you have failed. But
is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms
are strong, your back is muscular, and your
legs have become massive and hard. Through
opposition, you have grown much and your
abilities now surpass what you used to have.
Yet 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. This you have done. I, my friend,
will now move the rock.”
Does this describe some of us? We have
pushed against immovable objects with little
results. We have tried to accomplish our
mission for a long time. We have used up all
our strength. We are at the point of giving
up. Strange voices tell us success will never
come. The task isn’t worth our continued
loss. We seriously consider surrendering to
mediocrity, giving up our dreams and hopes.
Have we thought about doing what this
man did? Looking higher than the problem?
Talking with God in prayer? Asking Him to
reveal the source of our failure?
I once read, ”God may ask us to do things
that are impossible to us, but He never asks
us to do things that are impossible to Him.”
Matthew 19:26 reminds us of this. Do we
really understand the work the Lord has asked
us to perform? Are we sure of what He has
asked us to do? What we hear may not be
what He really said. Confusion in the details
of life can cause frustration and ultimately
failure.
God does not call us to success but to
obedience. Things are accomplished in us
when we faithfully are committed to obey
even in the midst of great and impossible
circumstances. Then, when we reach the end
of our ability, God can take over. He can move
the obstacle. He can give us the longed for and
sought after success.
Let’s clearly comprehend His commands,
faithfully follow His instructions, stop
listening to negative voices and trust Him
with all our life. He will move the stone!
Till Next Time,
-
Don Johnson, Kirby Pines Chaplain
