A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 I am trying to understand....

A Christian man lived in a humble cabin in the woods. One night, he was awakened by a bright light in his bedroom, and the very presence of the Lord in that bright light. God said to him, "I have a job for you to do." And the man replied, "Lord, I will be happy to do anything you tell me to do." God said, "That huge boulder just outside the front door of your cabin -- every day, I want it to be your full-time work to push that boulder. I want you to do it with all your strength, with all your might, with all your power, every day."

So the next morning, the man got busy, and he pushed, and he pushed; and he pushed that boulder all day long. And he came in that evening, desperately tired, but happy to have done all that day what God had asked. He did the same the next day, and the next and the next. And he continued doing it for years, going out every morning, and pushing on that boulder with all his strength and with all his being, every day.

After years of pushing that boulder every day with all his heart and strength, one day, Satan came to him and said, "You have been pushing that boulder with all of your strength every day, for years, and you haven't moved it one centimeter. I think that God doesn't know what he's talking about, and you're never going to get it moved that way. You're strength is just too small against a boulder that weighs three tons. I think it wouldn't hurt if you just went out there every day, as God said, but just put in your time. You don't have to push so hard. You don't have to push with all your strength. You don't have to put your whole heart and soul into this one. It's not going to make that much difference anyway."

The man thought about what Satan had said. And he decided that, after all these years of pushing, with no result, Satan was probably right. He didn't have to exert so much energy on a boulder that he obviously could not move anyway. So he started, day by day, to slack off a bit, take longer lunch breaks, not push quite so hard.

Just a few nights after Satan came to him, the Lord appeared to him again, bedroom filled with light, God in the midst of that light. God said, "You aren't pushing quite so hard on that boulder as you did for all those years. What's wrong."

The man said, "Lord, I have struggled and pushed and shoved and labored against that boulder for years -- and I have done it with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, and I have not moved that boulder one centimeter in all these years. I'm tired, Lord. I have accomplished nothing, and I fear I have failed you."

And God said, "My dear, dear child: For years, you have faithfully done all I asked you to do. You have pushed with all your strength and heart and being against that boulder. You have not failed me. You have done exactly what I asked you to do."

"But Lord," he replied, "what do I have to show for it? I have exactly nothing. Nothing has changed."

The Lord replied, "You're wrong. Look at yourself. YOU have changed. Look at your strongly muscled arms. Look at the strength in your chest and shoulders and back. Look at your calloused hands. Look at your legs, as strong as trees. YOU have grown, you have changed, you have become an immensely stronger person facing every day the immovable, the problem, the trouble, the pain of that boulder. You have proved yourself faithful to me."

"But Lord," the reply came, "I haven't accomplished anything. I still haven't done what you said. I still haven't moved the boulder at all."

God sort of laughed, a friendly, gentle, kind laugh, and he said, "Oh my dear loved one, did you ever hear me say to you, 'Move that boulder'? The answer is, No, you never heard me say that. My command for you was to PUSH on that boulder. You have done that wonderfully well. It's MY job to move that boulder. In the right time and the right way, I will move that boulder."