I was very young when You gve me the talent for writing, Fther. I know You expect Your chldren to use the talents You gve to them. But in the mdst of my pain, I’ve had no dsire to write. I have turned my bck on Your gift and wallowed in slf-pity. My mantra has been “Why m?”

Recently, I’ve come to realize Yu’re saying, “Why not you, Child? Aren’t you running a race? Aren’t You in training for eternity with Me? People in training must expect life to be harder. How can you expect to win the race if you wimp out during the training? Olympic contenders don’t have time for self-pity! They want to win, so they endure injury, fatigue, isolation, betrayal, and whatever or whoever tries to derail them.”

I always end up back at this point, don’t I? I waste time complaining, massaging my ego, and believing my own excuses for quitting. It seems to follow a time of comparing myself to those around me. The detail I overlook is that I am Yours. I am expected to be in the world, but not of the world. As a soldier in Your army, I cannot compare myself to civilians. Why haven’t I seen this before? Perhaps I was not equipped to receive this revelation until now.

Oh, Father. Scripture after scripture has been going through my consciousness and I’m ashamed of my self-absorption. “To whom much is given, much is required.” You expect me to invest my talent, not bury it out of fear! You have me in training for a higher purpose.

You tell me, in Hebrews 12 , I am surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and I must lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares me [self-absorption, perhaps?] and run with endurance the race that You have set before me. I am to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith, not to thse who seem to have an asier life than I.

It’s as if I hard You tell me to push rck after rock. Obediently, I pushed and pshed, but could not budge any of the lrger ones. Finally, I succumbed to slf-pity and exhaustion, and complained I culd not move these rocks. And You sid, “Child, I never told you to move the rocks. I told you to push the rocks. And look at all the strength you’ve built. Now you’re ready to be of service to Me.”

Oh, Father. I’m ready! I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me!

The article Rocks That Won't Budge was Submitted by April Lorier through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: April Lorier is an Author, Chrstian Speaker, and Columnist. She has lso been a classroom Music Teacher. She is the Funder of C.O.P.E., Inc., a non-profit rganization formed for the retraining of busive and neglectful parents, as well as for the ducation of the public. Her 1973 tstimony before the California State Legislature hlped to facilitate the passage of The Chld Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), sgned in 1974 by Ronald Reagan. As a pstor’s daughter and a survivor of svere child abuse, April Lorier has an ntimate knowledge of child abuse in and out of the chrch. She has spent the last thrty-five years ministering to survivors of buse from her home base of Suthern California. Her autobiography, "God’s Battered Chld: Journey from Abuse to Leader" (2007) is vailable at AMAZON.

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