Blocking you? Do you think/know that you have/are facing stones in your life? Are they only irritating pebbles? Or blocking boulders? Or both? You do realize that pebbles can increase in size and become boulders if you don’t deal with them, yes? What do you do about them? Try to go around them because rarely can they be ignored? Do you turn around (avoid) and not tackle what seems too great? Your response to stones and boulders says a great deal about you. It is a character issue.
Recently I listened to a message by a pastor who was talking about the stones and boulders all of us face/have in our lives. Examples of the types of stones are: guilt, finances, relationships, unbelief, health, rationalization, discouragement, etc. Are You facing any of these? Do your stones consume you and your thinking? Merely ‘thinking’ about them doesn’t dissolve or reduce their size… you, as in YOU, have to respond to them. This is the time, that I’ve discovered, pebbles can grow into boulders when I don’t resolve the effect they produce, because they also impact and influence other stones and pebbles.
What to do… constructively? Is there ever a situation or time that You are not in control, perhaps that you aren’t the decision-maker or resolution-developer? Obviously, yes. However, even in those situations in which you are not the ‘one in charge’ you always have control over yourself – your reactions, your thoughts, your attitudes. You may not agree with the answer the person in charge has made, but if you’ve attempted to provide the alternative you believe would be the answer, you’ve done all you can. (Do remember that how you present your option is critical – especially if you want it to be seriously considered.)
I tend to think that stones/pebbles and boulders are a fact of life. They will always be present. HOW we respond to them needs to be our focus. The ‘give up, give in’ response will never resolve anything. This is especially true of our personal character issues. Assuming we don’t want to continually face the same issues over and over avoiding and ignoring will never resolve what we need to do. Trust me… there are other stones and boulders lurking out there in our future, but we can deal with them when we deal with the pebbles in our lives now. We can grow our stone and boulder responses when we act and use that learning for the future.
We really can overcome. I believe that there is nothing we can’t do when we act according to the standards we have learned in our Christian walk. The results may not always produce what we hope, but that doesn’t diminish our attitude and behavior. As we rely on our Lord and listen to Him we grow in the knowledge of who we are and what we can do. Never assume the boulder is too big but don’t take it on alone. Sometimes you have to bring a chisel to the action, sometimes a sledge hammer, and sometimes you have to say unto the mountain – be gone.
