A Rock and a Watery Grave

For over a year I’ve been waging a wicked war in my own spirit, feeling that I had been victimized by a bad decision made by someone else.

For months I’ve carried around this burdensome weight that, at times, threatened to bury me. I sought godly counsel on how to conquer this gruesome giant. Bitterness had been allowed to settle in my heart…uncontested.

Forgiveness, by way of a letter, was extended to those who I felt had wronged me. When those I was forgiving had to ask me what they had done wrong I knew that the problem was even deeper than I had imagined. The battle continued…unabated.

Recently I met with a Christian brother who had been wronged by a so-called friend. This action had troubled him so deeply that he had to somehow let it go or it would have killed him. He shared with me how he had finally gained victory over the situation. As he was speaking I knew what I had to do.

When I got home that afternoon I went out to the field behind our home and found the biggest rock I could carry. Struggling under the weight I was shouldering (that's not me in the picture), I walked to the creek that crosses the corner of our property (see photo below). With a heave and a sigh of relief, I pitched that boulder into the water and watched it settle in the mud below.

Whew! I did it! The burden was lifted! The pain began to diminish! I had symbolically cast that heavy weight that was besetting me into the depths of the sea…well, the creek.

To dig up that hurt, that rock, I’d have to take off my shoes and socks, roll up my pant legs and jump into the cold water, bend over and try to unearth that huge rock from its resting place. What would I gain by doing that? What would it profit me? NOTHING! Absolutely NOTHING!

By the same token, what purpose would there be in my digging up the hurt I had realized, the pain I had suffered and the grief I had endured? NONE! I’d just have to relive the painful problem.

God provided release and relief through this simple act! That boulder lies there on the creek bottom as a reminder of God’s goodness. A memorial to the fact that God dealt with my past hurts there on the creek bank as I pitched that rock into the water. That stone of remembrance will remain there, on the bottom, for as long as I’m the landowner. I’m NOT digging it up!

Has something been weighing you down and negating everything positive that you are trying to accomplish?. Has an unresolved hurt kept you from moving on? Does it seem like there’s no relief in sight? Give it over to the God who cares, understands and offers freedom. Only He can turn the tide and enable you to move on.

Give that rock, whatever it might be, a watery grave, bid farewell and begin afresh by God’s enabling. You can’t do it alone!

“When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you.” – Psalm 42:6
(The Message)

Yes, when I’m discouraged and distraught, I think of all that God is and all that He has done and I can’t help but rejoice in His goodness and mercy.