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Pushing Against The Rock (AKA "Wax On, Wax Off")

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation  and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:1-3)

"Pushing Against The Rock"


Author Unknown
 There once was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared to him. The Lord told him He had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling his whole day had been spent in vain.
      Seeing that the man showed signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture - placing thoughts in the man's mind, such as ``Why kill yourself over this?, you're never going to move it!'' or ``Boy, you've been at it a long time and you haven't even scratched the surface!'' etc. giving the man the impression the task was impossible and the man was an unworthy servant because he wasn't moving the massive stone.
     These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts. ``Why kill myself?'' he thought. ``I'll just put in my time putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.'' And this he did or at least planned on doing until, one day, he decided to take his troubles to the Lord.
     ``Lord,'' he said, ``I have labored hard and long in Your service, putting forth all my strength to do that which You have asked of me. Yet after all this time, I have not even budged that rock even half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?''
     To this the Lord responded compassionately, ``My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you to push against the rock with all your strength and that you have done. But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. At least not by yourself. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed, ready to quit. But is this really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your back sinewed and brown. Your hands are calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have. Yet still, you haven't succeeded in moving the rock; and you come to Me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent. I, my friend will move the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and push, and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom, and this you have done.''  (http://owen.sj.ca.us/rkowen/LDS/stories/pushrock.html) 


      This story sometimes comes to mind when I get discouraged about how hard I've been working at something that isn't coming out quite the way I imagined it should. So does the  Karate Kid Car Waxing argument (click on the link to watch it - my apologies for the bad language)  So does Abram's call to leave his home and go where God leads him. When someone, especially God, gives us a task or a burden, we naturally focus on the task - either performing or avoiding it. When we succeed, we look for the approval of the one who gave us the task. When we fail, we expect that person's disapproval. Sometimes, we get frustrated with the task and direct that frustration at the one who gave it to us.  Sometimes, we get discouraged.

        The task may seem important or it might seem trivial. It deserves our attention because He gave it. It might not only seem impossible; it may be impossible. We need to keep trying.  We also need to keep in mind that God's main interest may not be the task itself. It might be what He is teaching us through the task ("Wax on, wax off"). It might be on what He is developing in us ("Move the rock." "Go where I lead you.") It might be on the person who watches us, or on the person we'll be able to help later because of what we're doing now.




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