HAVE YOU ROLLED AWAY THE STONE
FROM YOUR HEART?
The Tomb is Empty, where is
Jesus now?
by: Shirley Faith Souder Matthew 28: 1/7
April 10th, 2020
In
all of my life, I never thought I’d be quarantined from celebrating Good Friday
and Easter Day Sunday in the church of my home and choice. Never Ever!
Yet, here we are! So, I got to
thinking about what I wrote last week, and what Pastor Stuart spoke on this
past Sunday (Palm Sunday). Jesus had to
decide. To understand or to trust. It became a two-part prayer. Father God, would it be possible for you to
take this away, I give up. . . Thy Will be Done as it is in heaven.
Normally,
we are planning which church service to attend, an Easter Egg Hunt for the
grandkids, or kids, what time to eat and what to eat. Who is coming? Can we all get to church together and can we
do it with two cars?
With
all this time on my hands and no church service to attend. No family to be with, I got to thinking about
the Rock they rolled away. Who did
that? Does it even matter? What matters is, that Jesus was not there and
we became sin free. From there a
question began to form . . .” Have I or You Rolled Away the Stone from Your
heart?” Where is Jesus for me and you
today? And, what about those you are
currently concerned and praying for?
I
grew up in the Lutheran Church and I remember Easter from that
perspective. I did not pay attention to
whether Jesus was sent to the cross to pay for my sins. When I became a Christian 48 years ago God
certainly began peeling the onion for me.
Which means, He has had to show me the hard way what a true heartfelt
relationship with Jesus means. I have
had a really difficult time thinking about that process. It took my breath away to watch that movie
“The Passion.” It was convicting and
painful. It drove me to be sure I lived
up to what He did for me (us). I have had to listen, evaluate, be convicted,
make a commitment, and be hopeful for change.
This time that we have been asked to stay at
home, as we wait to see what happens in our own spheres of influence, has been
crucial for my own examining and letting the Lord again do some deeper peeling. I am so
thankful for Him preparing me a little bit prior to the shelter in place
process. I am letting Him speak to my
heart. I have not been quite so
thankful over the last 12 months as a new widow. So, that is what prompted me
to write this to you. And, ask you,
where are you today? What has this brought to your mind and spirit? Are your emotions racing? You
could have little kids, or teenagers who are relentlessly bored, or a husband
wanting to know what’s to eat? What are
you thinking? Are you scared? Are you
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holding
your breath? Do you want to roll away the stone of self-protection and
busyness? Do you want to listen?
Yesterday,
I decided not to take Jax to the park.
We walked around the 3 acres here and then over to the cemetery. I looked at all the stones and their
dates. 1853 to 1905. The mausoleum was full of course, but you
need a key to get in and see all those historical dates. I didn’t feel weird or
sad, or think what will mine say on it.
I just thought how serene it is here and those reminders are just about
someone who isn’t even here now. It does,
however, prove they were.
It
was then that I realized how important, crucial, significant, and clearly
prudent it is that I(we) need to answer that question. “Have I rolled the stone
from my heart?” Did I roll that great big, almost immovable rock of “life’s
stuff” away and let Jesus walk right into my heart and life? When?
What have I done with Him since then?
Has He been the center of my being, the true treasure of priority in my
life? Do I trust Him to walk hand in
hand with me through this journey of uncertainty? Isaiah 41:3. “For I am the Lord your God, who
takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.”
There
is no need for rocket science here everyone. I’m just wanting to share with you how
important this question is for me; and then also ask you, what are your thinking
about this Good Friday/Easter Sunday morning?
We have lots of time to think and put order into our lives. You could be
caught up in all kinds of things. I
convicted to be closer, discern more, change what needs to be changed. So, let
me suggest that you advantage of praying more, reading scriptures, memorizing
them, asking Him to point out things you need help with to further the kingdom
like He asked in scriptures.
I
don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be caught frittering away my time
trying to understand how did that rock get moved. There is a story I read in a borrowed book
that I love. This man wanted more time
with Jesus, so he moved out into the woods and into a cabin all alone. He asked Jesus, what do you want me to
do? Jesus said. . .” I want you to go
out into the yard twice a day and push on that ROCK for 15 minutes.” So, he did.
For days, for weeks. The enemy
came along and said. . .” See I could have told you your great God, would give
you something dumb to do and see, you are failing at it. That
rock hasn’t moved one 16th of an inch; look at yourself, how
pathetic pushing on a rock.” So, the man
went inside and called out to Jesus.
“Why, what are you doing to me. Do
You want me to fail? I have been pushing
on that rock like you said, and it hasn’t moved at all. Why?”
Jesus showed up. And, said “I
never said to you that you needed to push on the rock and move it. I said, “All you have to do is just push on
it like I asked. It is my job to move
it. Yours is to trust and do what I
asked.” I love this analogy and it says
it all.
God
moved the rock His way, and the tomb is empty.
His Son set us free. All we have
to do is Trust, Pray and Seek Him to set us free from anxiety right now. Worship and Praise Him
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this Easter Sunday. Lift yourself, and your family to Him to ask
for peace and calming through this very hard time. He has meant it for our good, He is using it
to get our attention. I pray you are
paying attention. Call on Him to come
get you and He will sing over you. To
touch your family with His perfect love.
To help those who have lost loved ones through this, who
have been healed through this,
and who came to Jesus through this time.
Pray for those who need to open their hearts and lives to let Him in
now. Let us push the rock, by Seeking
Him first.
Let Him move the rock.
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