The Stone

I've kept this stone and English pound in one of my jacket pockets for 7 and 3 years respectively. They have both provided grounding reminders for me throughout the years when I've put my hands into my pockets.

The stone, as you might be able to tell, had been polished by water before it was smoothed down further by my fingers. It was soothing to feel the near perfect curve from end to end as I fiddled with it. The pound is weighty, in a nice way, it was a reminder of wonderful time with friends...that I was never alone.

The other day when I put that jacket on again and touched the stone I was reminded that it had fallen and broken recently. The smooth curve from end to end is no longer there...it stops abruptly. As I fiddled with it in my pockets watching my boys meander along the side of the road I thought, "There has to be a message here." None came at the time so I tucked the thought away to ponder and pray about later.

The next day this thought came as I was watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with my eldest..."Sometimes when we lose sight of God and what He is capable of we start to feel that things are impossible. It prompts us to try to repair things completely on our own." Depending on how well you know the story of the Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe you might remember that in the movie version part of what prompts Edmund to reveal to the White Witch more of the truth of what he knew about his siblings was because of his fear and because he didn't know Aslan's power...or Aslan for that matter. So, when he saw Mr. Tumnus turned to stone it stuck fear into him and then when the the White Witch threatened to do the same again to a fox he stepped out to stop her.

This is partly a sign of courage, instead of sitting back and allowing another being to be turned to stone (which I can't imagine being pleasant) he spoke up with what he knew. This is also a sign that he didn't realize the extent of Aslan's power...he didn't know that Aslan could make all things right again. I realize that a part of this thought can quickly fall apart if you extrapolate it too far, but it made me think about us with God. Sometimes I think we deem things as impossible, un-fixable and unsolvable and so we start reacting out of fear or insecurity or whatever it may be in a desire to make things right and we start to forget that all things are possible with God.

Even that rock, that was once smooth and complete could be made complete again, for "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to here' and it will move" (Matt. 17:20). God created that rock in the first place, or if you want to argue that the currents of the water did...then HE created that current, that water, this earth.

So, I guess this is a reminder that "WITH God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26). This is a reminder I've had to hold onto over the past week...and also the truth that "in all things God works for the GOOD of those who love Him..."(Romans 8:28). When I wake up in the morning with all this uncertainty and all these little (and big losses) swirling around me I can forget and lose sight of God's incredible and inexhaustible ability to work all things for good. I hope that this is what this stone will remind me of in the future...I will choose to have it be this reminder.