The Ordinary Stone

6/9/13

The Ordinary Stone

My morning walk was peaceful.  I love the quiet weekend mornings with our dog.  I am free to think things through in ways that I cannot when I am inside.

The Lord speaks to me anytime, anywhere, but I feel more open and undistracted when I am able to see the sky and hear the birds.   Well, not really undistracted, I find my thought meander from thing to thing, but at an easier pace than at other times.  Perhaps this is why I hear better when I am outside.

And not just with my physical ears, but maybe because I am awe of my surroundings, I am able to be inspired with answers to questions that I really had not thought to ask yet.

This time, while thinking about a conversation with a friend, I was trying to find a way to define how the dark and painful things from our past actually make us uniquely qualified to step into the huge thing that He intended for us to do before creation. 

And there it was, just sitting on the ground in the dirt, like an ordinary stone.  In fact it was an ordinary stone.  But it was also so much more.

 

I’d seen it out of the corner of my eye as I passed it.  Then, for some reason, I was pulled back, compelled to pick it up and carry it home in my pocket.  What caused me to do this?  Whose voice was I hearing?  My own – telling me that there would be at least one good story there; or did the stone cry out to the Lord, so He would cause me to turn around and bring it home with me?

In any case, I have it now.  I rinsed off most of the dirt and placed it on my dresser, so I must choose to look at it or not.

 There is a home truth for me right there.  How many things do I see as I pass them, or let them pass me, without stopping to acknowledge them?  Words unsaid, a needed touch or hug not given.  That moment with God that I postpone may be the call to pray for someone I cannot see, but desperately needs me to pray intentionally for them right now.  This may explain some of the emptiness that comes over me at times.  My unsaid prayers may explain the loss of the joy I could have felt in that lost conversation with the Lord.

This particular stone is about the size of a regular marshmallow.  One side is fairly smooth and the other is rough and uneven, obviously broken sometime in the past.  But the edges are not sharp, so perhaps the break was not too painful; or was so long ago that the jagged edges have been softened over time.

The thing that caught my eye was the size.  It was a bit larger than most of the others and was white, with black marbling.  Not absolute black, but clearly defined in the moment my eyes turned the object into a thought.  We had just gone through a series of teachings about, “One Shade of Black”, so this may have been a continuation or expansion of that lesson.

The truth is the truth.  And sin is sin.  Yet, I was given a picture of myself in that stone.  Mostly “good”, or at least heading in that direction; but still the sum of the things in myself that need to submit and surrender to the Lord.  A statement that I have made countless times, and still falling short, reaching back, slipping and sliding along that downard slope whenever I try to take charge of myself.

Then, I heard the Sweet, Soothing Voice Within.  The Voice that reminds me that He has already forgiven my past every time I asked Him.  The marbling is my testimony, not my shame.  My rough and bumpy parts are the lessons that I can share with those He places in my path.  I do not need to bury, hide or deny things I have done, or what has been done to me.

I do not need to memorize fighting words from scripture to corner folks and wrestle them into submission. I can speak boldly with kindness and generosity as I share the reasons for my joy and the work that the Lord has done and is still doing in me.   Logic is the world’s way of thinking.  Faith can grow when the world sees me forgiving, loving and trusting the Lord – every day.

We are all living “between a rock and a hard place”.  But that ordinary stone is showing me that the hard place is here and now.  The hard place is life.

 

The ordinary stone is me.  And the Rock is salvation.   

“When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;  He brought me into a spacious place.  The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 118:4-6

Written by

Lynda Kinnard

ONE NATION UNDER GOD...June, 2015 Writing by Cathy Friberg

06/2015

The national Day of Prayer, held on the first Thursday of May, has come and gone. I am so grateful that we continue to set aside this day to fast and pray for the United States of America. Even though the official Day of Prayer for 2015 has passed, the call to pray for our country still burns bright in my heart. I feel that we need to persevere in prayer daily for the destiny of America. The forces of darkness are strong and relentless seeking to further destroy the moral fabric and faith in our land. However, we serve a merciful God who does heed the cries of His people. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 states, 

"If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves

 and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 

then will I hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

We, the Body of Christ, are the Living Church. As such, we have power and authority to pray and declare righteousness, holiness, purity, and reverence for God over our nation. Our prayers do make a difference and the Lord will honor any time we can set aside each day to call out to Him for our land. 

I have included a prayer given by Jack Graham to help as a guide in our prayer times for this nation:

"Heavenly Father,
We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You. Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land. We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word.

We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You. Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to live in Your righteousness. We pray for our beloved nation. May we repent and return to You and be a light to the nations. And we pray for our leaders and ask that You give them wisdom and faith to follow You. Preserve and protect us, for You are our refuge and only hope.Deliver us from all fears except to fear You, and may we courageously stand in the Truth that sets us free.

We pray with expectant faith and grateful hearts.

In Jesus’ name, our Savior." 
My earnest hope is that we will all be inspired to take time to pray for the United States of America and to encourage other believers to do the same.

Written and Shared by

Cathy Friberg