what do rocks know?
Posted: December 15th, 2009 | Filed under: God | Tags: purpose | 2 Comments »They arrived at the place to which God had directed him. Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son. -Genesis 22:9-10
If I could have a conversation with Abraham, I would want to hear him talk about what he knew about God that gave his legs move.
For now, I can only guess. Abraham had seen a lot by this time. His wife had a baby, he saw fire destroy a pair of cities, a woman turn into salt, God appear as three men, the debacle with calling his wife his sister. Maybe that was it? Maybe because of what he learned when he lied about his wife, God showed him who was in control?
Abraham comes from new blood. He’s not far down the line from Adam. What kind of stories about God were passed down from Adam? Or Noah. Noah had to have some crazy stories. What did he talk about when he had too much wine from his vineyard?
Abraham’s great-grandfather never died, he was just taken up with God …long before Elijah. Whatever Abraham knew, it gave him the release to not worry about what that day looked like and just keep walking.
“Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I are going over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” -Abraham, Genesis 22:5
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A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! -Mark 4:37-38
What did Jesus know that eased him enough to sleep when everyone else was sure they were going to die?
He moved about with ease. I don’t remember reading anywhere that said He was worried. He had emotions, but he had no fear. He cried with Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. He got angry at the corruption happening within the church and he was blunt and unapologetic to those who thought they were religious superiors. He even broke down in the the garden of Gethsemane because He knew they were about to murder Him, but He never panicked and never forgot…what? What did He know that made it seem, to others, that He didn’t even care?
They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?” -Mark 4:38
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“I tell you, if these become silent,the stones will cry out!” -Luke 19:40 NAS
What do the rocks know? What is creation aching to scream?
“BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” -Luke 19:38
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I don’t know what Abraham thought was going to happen when he brought the knife down on his son. But, he knew that God was bigger than whatever came from that day and he trusted God more than he trusted what made sense.
There is something bigger going on right now. It has deep roots and a purpose that goes way beyond your physical existence. You are a part of something. Nothing more.
The place where Abraham was to sacrifice his son is said to be the same place where God dug his fingers in the dirt to create Adam. That it was used as Araunah’s threshing floor…where chaff was separated from wheat. It’s said that David built an alter there. It’s the same place where Solomon built his temple. The same place where the temple Jesus turned tables over in was located. The same place where the temple split when Jesus died.
Abraham was asked to honor God in a place that was much bigger than he was. If that were us, we wouldn’t do it. We have learned how to make God fit into our lives and make our little worlds run the way we want. You’re a bead on a string. You’re a mist before dawn. You have a purpose, but that purpose is not you.
Abraham knew something we need to learn. He didn’t say, ‘What about me?’ because the testimony of creation would answer back, ‘What about you?’ God can do whatever He wants to do and if He asks you to be a part of it, then jump at that opportunity. Who cares what role you play…you get to play a role!
Do you know the thing you need to know that lets you sleep in peace when everything around you tells you it’s time to panic? God can do whatever He wants to do and no amount of panic will stop the storm unless He calls for it to stop. If you knew that you had a specific date assigned for your death and you could not die until then, what risks would you take and goals would you accomplish in the interim? Forget ‘live like you were dying.’ Live like you weren’t. Abraham won a battle where he was ridiculously outnumbered just because he fought it. Is it possible that he knew he wouldn’t die until his wife bore a son and so, until then, he wouldn’t live in fear?
They say that a person with no common sense and no capacity for intelligence is ‘dumb as a rock.’ But the rocks have been a witness to the timelessness of God stringing beads of stories and lives of purpose together for centuries. Rocks have seen the miracle of our Creator at work and has seen this masterpiece come together. The rocks bear witness (Josh24:27) and if you don’t get it and if it doesn’t rip through your body in an outburst of praise, the rocks will cry out in your place.
“Surely the stone will cry out from the wall and the rafter will answer it from the framework.” -Habakkuk 2:11 NAS
Beautiful insights, Serena. Love this:
"But the rocks have been a witness to the timelessness of God stringing beads of stories and lives of purpose together for centuries."
Thanks, Jennifer.