Print Blog
Email a FriendPosted by Rita Rossini on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010 1:09 PM (EDT):
WOW. Thank you Rachel- and Fr. Tim. I needed this. Crying now. Definitely timely.
The Challenge of Prayer
as we wait for answers
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:30 AM
My friend Fr. Tim sent this along to me this morning. I think it’s very powerful for people wondering when God is going to answer their prayers.
I Will Move The Rock
Once upon a time…there was a man who was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room 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 sun up to sun down, 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 placing thoughts into the man’s mind such as : “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it.” Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.
These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. “Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.” And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
“Lord”, he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”
To this the Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when long ago 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 come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewed, and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which 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.”
Comments
Page 1 of 1 pages
Posted by Molly on Thursday, Aug 12, 2010 8:19 AM (EDT):
Thank you for sharing Rachel - what a wonderful reminder. This pertains in so many areas of life. For me today it is a reminder to keep loving my husband, just as I promised on our wedding day 15 years ago, even if it does not always produce the result of the “perfect marriage” I imagined when we began this journey together.
On another note, thanks to all of you - Rachel, Danielle, Lisa, Arwen and Rebecca. Your willingness to share your lives and faith on this site helps me tremendously in my faith journey. Please keep sharing 
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
