It was a 3 year old boy’s dream come true.
Actually, my 68 year old father could barely peel his eyes away from the large backhoe digging rocks out of the piece of land across the street from my house.
For two whole days they worked, digging up huge rocks and enormous stumps before they could lay new topsoil and plant grass.
Having been through this process in my own yard, I knew exactly what they were doing.
You see, we live at the base of a mountain. Although it’s beautiful, the landscaping is difficult to maintain. All over the yards of the houses around us are rocks sticking up out of the ground that make it impossible to grow grass and a challenge to even mow it.
Heaven forbid that you hit one of the rocks with your lawn mower! You could crack a blade or even flip the lawnmower!!!
Which is why all of us, as homeowners, come to the place where we need to address the rocky situation.
Here’s the thing---these aren’t just little rocks you can dig out by hand. Nope, they are humongous! (and heavy)
Even though you can only see a tiny fraction of their size poking through the grass, underneath the topsoil they are 2-10 feet in size and hundreds of pounds. (Which is why you can’t grow grass)
It’s also why you often need the help of heavy equipment to get them out.
And let’s be honest---the heavy equipment doesn’t work like a surgeon---moving in and out as delicately as possible. No, the digging and removing rocks creates a mess! It’s easy to think, "They are destroying my yard!! I should have just left the rocks alone! How bad were they?"
But here’s the issue---they are bad!!! They cause destruction!!! They make life harder than it has to be.
When you’re willing to go through the process (and mess) of digging them out, you’ll find that the work was worth the effort. When the new grass has grown and your lawn is beautiful and safe again, when you can cut your grass without fear of bodily harm, you’ll be glad you endured the mess.
Trust me, we’ve been there and done that----in our lawn and in our lives.
(Oh, come one, you didn’t really think this blog was about yard work did you???)
The truth is that for many years our lives were a lot like our rocky lawn. From a distance, everything looked perfect and pristine. Yet, there were issues that were causing us pain and difficulty, making following Jesus and living the abundant life He had for us a challenge.
Even though we could not see the surface issues, the Holy Spirit knew that underneath the surface in our hearts there were big boulders causing the problems that would need to be revealed and removed so that we could experience true healing.
Thankfully, He brought us to a place in life where truth was uncovered, secrets were revealed, and my Mom, my brother, and I were able to address the issues in our lives for what they were and take the steps necessary to remove the spiritual rocks from our lives.
And did we ever have to call in some heavy equipment to do it!
The truth is that it didn’t just happen with a prayer but with hours and hours of time spent with Jesus dealing with the issues of our hearts.
We didn’t just quote a Scripture, but we spent time soaking in the Scriptures learning God’s ways of doing things.
We went to counseling and spent time with a pastor who specialized in spiritual deliverance and overcoming generation iniquities.
We chose to forgive and make lifestyle changes, and we talked and talked and talked we were all talked out.
The truth is that our healing didn’t just magically happen---anymore than our neighbor’s rocks just magically “popped” out of the ground. No, it took hard work, and honestly, things looked pretty messy along the way.
And yet, years later, I can say without question, that allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work, choosing to live through the mess, and put in the hard work to get rid of the rocks in our lives and plant new seeds, was the best choice we ever made.
Today, we are reaping and living the rewards in every area of our lives.
If you are reading this blog and recognize that there are areas of your life that are rocks---big boulders that are keeping you from healthy spiritual and emotional growth---perhaps even creating dangerous, painful areas in your life, I want to encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to begin His excavating work.
A great place to get started is by reading, Finding Healing, learning how to start your own journey to rock removal and then beginning the process.
I know it seems like a lot of effort, and you may not want to go through the mess. However, just like my neighbor will look out next year on her new, lush, green lawn and cut her grass with unprecedented ease, I can promise you that you will reap a reward in the future.
I know, I’ve been there, and I’m telling you from the bottom of my heart that God has an abundant life available to you on the other side of your journey to healing.
Don’t let anything stop you from obtaining it. Instead, get started today and let the Holy Spirit remove the rocks from your life so you can experience health, wholeness, and growth like never before.
You can do it!
