Story of the Push Necklace

Have you heard the story about the man that had to walk through a mountainous area to get to work? There on his path was a huge boulder wedged between two mountainsides. This boulder was bigger than big…10 to 15 feet wide…thousands of pounds… and everyday as the man approached the boulder in his path he would struggle up the mountainside to pass around it. Everyday he wished that this obstacle was removed from his path.

Then one day he decided to ask God for help... He said, “Lord, can you see this boulder in my way? It is slowing me down. It’s hindering me. It’s causing me all kinds of problems. Lord, please remove this obstacle from my path.” The man was amazed to immediately hear from the Lord. He said, “Son, I’m not going to move that rock… you are. I want you to push it out of the way.” The man immediately began to argue with God. He said, “but Father, I am not strong enough to move this boulder. It weights thousands and thousands of pounds. If I could move it, I would’ve already done it. It can’t be done!” The Lord listened to him patiently and replied, “trust in Me and you will have the strength.” So the man decided to obey God even though he didn’t understand how he was going to accomplish this amazing task. He thought in the back of his mind that if he obeyed God, then He would probably just move it for him. So he pushed…

The man pushed and pushed. He strained and struggled. He got on the high side of the boulder and pushed with all his might. He used his legs and arms… his shoulders and back. After hours and hours of pushing he was exhausted and he said to the Lord with a little disappointment in his voice, “Lord, I pushed this boulder all day long and it hasn’t budged. I told you that I couldn’t move it. It’s too big…it’s too much of a struggle. Just like that boulder wouldn’t budge, God wouldn’t budge either. He told the man, “son, I want you to continue pushing until this obstacle is removed from your path. I know that you can do it.” Everyday the man pushed the boulder. He pushed and pushed. He labored more than he ever had. He had NEVER met an obstacle like this…but he faithfully went to this rock and pushed day after day, week after week, month after month. Finally, the Lord spoke to him after about six months. He said, “Son, you don’t have to push the boulder any more. I’m going to open up a path around the boulder for you.” Sure enough, that afternoon a tornado came through the valley and cut a perfect path around that boulder…and this man, although he was grateful, he was just a little “put-out”…a little frustrated.

He said to the Lord, “Why did you have me waste my time pushing on that boulder when you knew that you were going to make a path around it anyway? Here I spent all this time, effort and energy struggling. I don’t understand Lord.” God said, “Son, you haven’t wasted your time…look at your legs…look how strong and powerful they are. Look at your arms…look at your shoulders and back. You have developed muscles you never knew that you had. Son, I used that boulder to develop you…now you have persistence, determination, stamina.” God said, “the entire time you were pushing that boulder, I was watching you very closely...every moment you struggled, I was beside you …and as soon as you developed…as soon as I knew you were strong enough…as soon as I knew that the work was done in YOU,…that’s when I immediately opened up a new path!!!”

You see, God knows when we are ready…our job is to faithfully PUSH…PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS!