Stop Expecting the Stone To Move

I taught a message at a women's retreat once about not finishing God's sentences.   Before I started sharing the lesson that God had shown me, I shared the following story.

"In a dream, God told a man to go outside and push against a huge boulder in his front yard.  So every morning for the next few weeks, the man went outside and strained against the rock.  He pushed and groaned and prodded and shoved, but the rock never budged.  

Finally, in a fit of exasperation, the man fell to his knees and lifted his eyes to heaven.  "What were you thinking, Lord? " He cried, wiping sweat from his brow. "You told me to push this rock, and I've been pushing it for weeks, yet it has not moved an inch!"

A voice from heaven rumbled among the clouds, then whispered in the man's ear. "I told you to push the stone," God said, "I didn't tell you to move it.  I'm the only one who can move it, and when you're ready, I will.  By the way, look at your hands."

The man looked at his hands.  They had grown callused and tough with the work, and his arms bulged with muscles.  Though his efforts seemed fruitless, he had grown strong; and now he was beginning to grow wise."

The first time God taught me this lesson was in relation to meeting my Dad.  I knew that God had asked me to reach out to my Dad with a letter of forgiveness.  I did what God asked me to do and it really, really hurt.  It didn't look anything like I thought it would.  I was so angry at God for the way my Dad reacted to my letter.  God gently reminded me that He didn't tell me there would be restoration in our relationship.  He reminded me that He didn't tell me to expect instant healing in my heart regarding the abandonment that I had felt over the years.  He reminded me that He simply asked me to send the letter.  I am the one who put all of the other expectations around what God had asked of me.  (You can read more about the letter to my Dad by clicking HERE.)

It is overwhelming to me how many times God has had to remind me of that story and the message that I shared back in 2013.  He needs to constantly remind me to not finish His sentences.  He has to remind me that I need to leave my expectations out of it and simply walk in faith.   Today, as I was reading my morning devotional, He reminded me yet again.

I know that God asked us to move to Florida.  Here's the thing, He didn't tell us why. Today's devotional talked about how God told Abraham that he would be a father of nations but He didn't tell Abraham how or when.  Abraham tried to finish God's sentence for Him.   He tried to take matters into his own hands with Hagar.  There really wasn't anything Abraham could do but wait on God to walk out what He had promised.

God is teaching me that lesson too...to wait.   Everything in me wants to look over the past three years and try to put my finger on the reason that I think He sent us down here.  To somehow discover that His purpose has been fulfilled so that I can get back home.    What He is teaching me is that I need to quit trying to finish His sentences.  He didn't say, "Go to Florida until ____ is accomplished".  He said, "Go to Florida".  Just like the story that I started this post with, Florida is the stone that God has asked me to push.  I want to know why it isn't moving, but He didn't ask me to move it.  Florida is changing me.  It is testing my faith and causing my roots to grow deeper.   It is teaching me to put my faith and trust in Him... to show me each next step... when He knows that I am ready to take them.

I think all of us would prefer that when we are obedient to what God is asking of us, that the reward would be immediate. He just doesn't work that way.  He could give us the entire sentence but He prefers that we stay in a position to constantly seek His will for our lives.  That we are continually trusting Him to guide our steps.  That we are resting in the fact that He is God and we are not...and He will finish His sentences at the perfect time for us.  He will never pull us along faster than our ability to follow Him.