13 Apr No Stone Unturned

“And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone . . .” (Matthew 28:2).

It’s pruning season.

Before you think I am about to head outside with my clippers and my shears, I’m not. It’s summer and outdoor pruning season has passed.

I wish it hadn’t.

I seemed to have been too busy to prune during spring so now I sit here staring out the window at overgrown trees with branches and stems that shouldn’t be there. Extra weight is wasting the energy in my tree’s life. I missed the window to prune but God hasn’t.

Instead of the sculpting being done on a tree, it’s me.

My heart.

God is doing a work on my heart right now and to be honest, I am not sure if I like it.

Can I ask a favor and switch metaphors for a second?

As a friend recently pointed out . . . instead of pruning,

God is leaving NO STONE UNTURNED in my heart.

Yes, my life, my heart is an open field and God’s been walking amongst it. OUT OF LOVE, He’s been bending down and turning over stones.

One . . . by . . . one.

Unnoticed stones, lying there in the field of my heart, were covering up something. Covering up something dead lying underneath that should be alive. Which makes me wonder?

Have you picked up a stone or rock from a field lately?

I haven’t from a field but a few days ago I picked a few up rocks that were in the corner of my yard. As I turned over each one, I was keenly aware of the crawly and creepy things lying beneath. Things that instantly scurried at the appearance of light. You see, icky things don’t like the light.

Similarly, it’s what I am seeing as God walks through the field of my life. The rocks He is overturning have dark things lying beneath.

Shame.

Fear.

PRIDE.

Yes, unbeknownst to me a few months back I feel like God woke up one day and declared it rock turning time. In doing so, He’s exposing the underground to the opportunity for my life to once again thrive.

But . . . it’s painful.

Those rocks have been there awhile for a reason. Oh yes, I’ve let God do work on me and the BIG boulders that were there before aren’t now.

But, it’s rock turning time again.

I’m quickly learning he wants them all gone . . . even the small ones. The ones that lay hidden when the grass is high. He wants them ALL gone. He wants the field of my heart to be full of life.

No stone left unturned.

In theory I want that. Who doesn’t want the field of their life to look like the greens or fairways of the Master’s?

Then again . . . stone turning is painful. Those rocks have been there for a reason. They cover something I don’t really want to see.

But God loves me TOO MUCH to let them just be.

So . . . it’s rock turning time.

As I sit.

And watch.

And wait.

And endure.

Most of all, I cry.

Alot.

Yes, the pain, The shame, The fears . . .

They are REAL and it HURTS when they are uncovered.

They just make me want to crawl in my bed and hide. Give me a bowl of ice cream and my Netflix addiction and let me call it a night.

I glance up as He shakes His head no.

Mediocre escapism is not supposed to be my life.

The pain of the shame.

The grip of the fears.

If I can just take a moment and breathe . . . and grieve.

If I can let the Landscaper do his work, maybe I can make it.

He should know better than me what is needed.

It’s His field.

My heart is His to do as He pleases.

After all, he bought it. He paid more for it than what it deserved. So, He gets to walk in the field, and leave no stone unturned.

Which reminds me . . .

His stone was turned over FIRST.

That day when the angel came down and moved that stone away from that tomb.

Darkness and death could no longer hide the Light. Or Life.

Because of that stone, the rocks in my life can be moved too.

The field of my life gets to have just that, LIFE.

To the FULLEST.  

So, time for you to get back to your life as I get back to mine.

Time to let the Landscaper work…. After all, it’s rock turning time.