The Rocks
In a vision…
I saw the Lord’s foot on a path of smooth stones.
Immediately, I knew the enemy was defeated, as I was reminded of the Lord crushing the head of the serpent. Then, just as suddenly, I was reminded of David with the five smooth stones…surely, the enemy is defeated!
I was reminded of a Valentine’s Day gathering my husband, Randolph, and I were invited to. The stipulation for participating in this ministry of love was that we had to bring a Valentine’s Day gift to exchange with one another. The gift was to be something small and creative - just for fun. Immediately, I was excited to have been invited and to take part…what girl doesn’t love getting a gift? So, as the day drew closer, Randolph and I started to get our ideas together and prepare for the event. However, there was one problem – I could not think of anything to give him.
So I called my sister, who was also invited, to see what ideas she had come up with, but still, nothing. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to go even though this was a very difficult time in my life. And not being able to come up with anything small, creative, and fun was adding to my frustration. So, consequently, the thought crossed my mind several times to cancel. But I wanted to go. I wanted to do something fun. I wanted to be around other couples.
I was hurting.
And every idea that I came up with wasn’t working. More than small, creative, and fun was my concern of not embarrassing him or myself (because the gifts would be exchanged in front of everyone.) I had to make this good.
And still…I couldn’t think of anything to give him; that is…until the Holy Spirit began to minister to me.
Saddened, nervous, and almost embarrassed, “You’ve got to be out of your mind!” I told myself time and time again. “You’ve got to be kidding! There’s no way you’re going to do this!” I kept trying to convince myself. “But it was all that I had,” I told myself as the tears started to roll down my face. And the hurt and pain began to surface. “I can’t do this,” I reasoned with myself. “This is not the place for that.” I wiped the tears as they fell from my eyes that spoke volumes to why I had to give all that I had.
So, I gathered the gift as the Holy Spirit had instructed, and immediately my nerves went into overdrive as I tried to calm myself down during the ride to the event. We arrived at the event, but needless to say there was absolutely no way I could even enjoy myself. I was preoccupied with the gift. It was all I could think about. Oh, my God…what embarrassment; what shame I’m going to have to endure. “Please Lord,” I reasoned, “this is not the place for this. It’s Valentine’s Day!” My mind raced as I searched the faces of the people who had come to the gathering, and could only imagine the gifts that they would give. One thing was certain, I would present last. (That probably wasn’t the smartest move because the anxiety only mounted as each couple exchanged their gifts.) Oh, my God! Just say you didn’t bring a gift and just apologize to everyone, I thought. But what about my husband? He’d be the only one there that wouldn’t get a gift…bad idea.
And before I knew anything, we were being called up to exchange our gifts. I had already decided that he would go first. I would go last. So he started and immediately, as if all the lights had gone out, I was in the dark. And when the lights came back on…he was on one knee presenting his gift. How sweet…it was a box of chocolates! (So that should give you an idea of the types of gifts people were giving.)
Immediately, I started shaking as I tried to make light of the situation because…somehow things had just gotten real. The tears began to well up in my eyes and I was doing everything I could to try to hold them back. “Oh, my God,” I said. “I’m so nervous.” Then the encouragement came from the crowd as someone said, “Take your time.” Somehow, somebody understood what was happening. Somehow, somebody knew things had gotten serious.
Lord, please don’t let me cry. I’ll do it, just please don’t let me cry in front of all of these people, I pleaded. Rather I cried or not, wasn’t His concern. Give the gift.
So, I inhaled deeply (thinking it would stop my heart from racing – at least slow down the pace). Exhale. “Think,” I encouraged myself. “You can do this.” Another deep breath, then the words came out. “Sometimes in relationships there isn’t always sunshine. Sometimes there’s rain. Having a relationship is not always about the ups; sometimes there’s hurt (and immediately, I reached in the gift bag and handed him a rock). And with the rock in my hand, the tears again challenged me to be released as I started to choke on the words that were now caught in the lump in my throat. But I refused. And I continued. As I called out everything that I was experiencing, pain, heartache, resentment, loneliness, rejection, abandonment, which was represented by a rock, I gave the rock to him.
And with each rock that I gave him, it was that much harder to hold back the tears and the hurt, and the pain as it was all that I had to give.
He stood there with his hands held out and took them. Then all of a sudden I realized there was a silence that had fallen over the room, not a word spoken, but there were tears. Someone in the crowd understood. “Lord, help me through this,” I prayed silently.
“But through it all,” I continued, “we have the one rock that really matters!” And immediately, the people began to applaud as I struggled to get the words out. I reached in the bag and took out the last rock, a smooth stone, that had the name of Jesus on it, and I continued. “We have Jesus Christ, the Rock! He is the Rock Who will see us through!” And immediately, I was strengthen as the people had all began to clap and say, “Oh, my God, that was so good!”
We won the first place prize, and even to this day, when we see some of the people who were at that gathering, they never fail to mention, the rocks.
The interpretation of the vision…
The Lord is saying, “You’ve got the victory! The enemy is defeated! All you have to do is take the first step and give Him your rocks; your hurt, pain, hatred, unforgiveness, loneliness, hopelessness, bitterness, resentment, rejection that you're experiencing."
Don't be afraid. Don't be ashame or embarassed; give it to Jesus. The Lord is calling you to step out of your comfort zone and do something that you've never done before. While He's not asking you to attend a Valentine's Day event, He is asking you to give Him that which you hold near and dear to your heart. Yes, it may be difficult, but you've got to step out on faith. If you want to be healed, delivered, and set free, if you believe God can heal, deliver and set you free, then take that leap of faith and give Him your rocks!
This is the will of God concerning you.
