BP 157
Today’s post is short and sweet and—it has a rock-solid message: If you are not growing in your faith as you would like, maybe you have rocks in the field of your heart that need to be removed or they will continue to be an obstacle to your spiritual growth. Jesus spoke about the human heart and faith in his parable about the sower and the seed. He said:
“And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he [Jesus] said in a parable, ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold’” ~ Luke 8:4ff.
Jesus said that the seed that fell on the rock withered because it had no moisture and it also had no roots (v.13). So, having rocks in your field is clearly a condition not at all conducive to growth. Any farmer who wants to get the greatest yield from his field must work to remove all the obstacles that would prevent his or her seed from growing. These obstacles could be trees or old stumps or, as we are focusing on today, rocks.
Do you have rocks in your field? Boulders? Are they inhibiting your growth in faith to the point that your heart does not get spiritually irrigated and the roots of your faith are weak and shallow? Do you feel easily defeated and frustrated with your faith journey? If yes, what are the rocks in your heart and how do you rid yourself of them?
There are many different types of rocks that could be in the field of your heart. And, yes, some of them could be massive boulders that you cannot remove by hand but will require either explosives (often a cataclysmic life event that involves suffering) to break them up or a slow (sometimes long) eroding of the rock until it is small enough to remove.
Sometimes this slow eroding of the rock of Gibraltar in your heart may involve seeing a mental health professional who specializes in removing obstacles in the brain and heart. Always it will require reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” ~ Zechariah 4:6.
The main point here is that if you have larger rocks in the field of your heart, you have some work to do. The primary question is, Will you do the work of getting into your field or will you ignore the rocks and the boulders? Some men and women will choose to stand pat, leave their field as is, pass the boulders on to their children and grandchildren, settle for less, accept being hand-held flashlights instead of towering lighthouses the beacons of which ships can see hundreds of miles out at sea.
Are you a settler or are you one who wishes to burn brightly for the glory of your God who is a consuming fire?
Briefly, what are some of these boulders that could be entrenched in the field of your heart?
A few potential boulders might be unconfessed sin like bitterness, jealousy, lust, selfishness and pride; fear and/or anxiety that cultivates a deep lack of trust that interferes with your faith in Jesus; self-sufficiency that leads you to trust yourself instead of God; a deep love for the world and all its pleasures and a fragile, puppy-love for Jesus; shaming accusations and lies from the prince of darkness that cause you to feel unlovable even to God and lead you to slink away and hide alone instead of running toward the throne of grace for mercy and the protection of your Beautiful Defender; maybe even sexual, verbal, physical, or emotional abuse from your childhood that is buried deep in the field of your heart and interferes with all your attempts at intimacy.
Everyone has stumps, rocks, and boulders in their field. The most unfortunate person is not the one who has the most boulders but the one who refuses to do anything to remove them—even if the obstacles are few and small.
Sometimes, it is better to be born in the batter’s box and get hit by a pitch than to be born on third base and proudly think you hit a triple.
So, be a person who identifies any and all obstacles in the field of your heart that might obstruct growth in faith, peace, love, trust, strength, and wisdom. Be a son or daughter of the king who strives daily by the discernment and power of the Spirit to remove every rock that interferes with the greatest adventure a human being can ever pursue, namely, becoming a lighthouse in a dark world instead of settling for being a pen flashlight.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” ~ Colossians 2:6
“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” ~ James 5:7ff
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” ~ 2 Timothy 2
When your faith is challenged and your growth is slow, look up to the One who gives you strength to grow! Do whatever it takes to move forward and grow into a giant of faith. Seek the help you need from God and from your brothers and sisters around you including from professional counselors who love Jesus.
