Meditations on Mark
Has God asked you to do something for Him that you don’t know how to do? Is there a task before you that seems impossible to complete? Maybe He has given you the idea for a ministry that you have no idea how to carry out. Maybe you have a wounded relationship that needs to be repaired, forgiven and reconciled, but you can’t muster the strength or even the will to begin. Maybe your current financial circumstances hold you captive, preventing the carrying out of good intentions in your heart. Or perhaps you find yourself in all three of these categories at once!
Should you sit at home, so to speak, and wait for your circumstances, your abilities, or feelings to change before going out to do God’s biddings? Listen to this story. You’ve heard it before, I’m sure.
It’s early on a Sunday morning, just as the sun is inching its way up over the eastern hills. Three ladies carrying aromatic bundles in their arms hurry as they trudge along a rocky pathway. They have good intentions in their hearts, a task they have a burden to carry out, one which seems impossible. But they are not waiting at home. Hurry along with them so you can catch the discussion.
“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
"I don't know, but we'll think of something, I hope! Anyway, lets keep going"!
"We already bought the spices. We may as well try. Hurry up! It's already getting warm!"
Luke tells us that Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James had purchased their spices Saturday night. They knew the stone was too heavy for them to move, but they went shopping anyway. They know the huge bolder in front of the Master’s burial place won’t budge, let alone move enough for them to squeeze by, even with all three of them pushing. But still they have gotten up early and are headed to the tomb.
Foolish? Maybe. I’m sure they all had other needs clamoring for the money spent on burial spices. And no doubt they could have used some extra sleep this morning. After all, it has been a very exhausting couple of days. There’s nothing like sleeping in on a cool spring morning to refresh one’s outlook!
But not these ladies. They have a burning desire to do something, and even that impassible rock can’t keep them from trying. So they keep climbing, wondering as they go. And, would you believe it? As they round the last bend in the path they all gasp at once. And you do, too. For, as you look up, you all see that the stone, which is “very LARGE,” has already been rolled away!
You remember how it goes. The angel tells them not to be alarmed. He gives them a message to relay to the disciples – you know, those guys who are too frightened to come out of the upper room long enough to help the ladies! And there’s the amazing news that Jesus isn’t even in the tomb any more! That the spices won’t be needed, because He is alive!
Wow! How much better to be the bearers of good news than to embalm a corpse, even that of a very dear Friend?! Could it be that when we strike out in faith to accomplish the thing God has put in our hearts that He has already rolled away the stone? That He has an even better plan than we could ever imagine? That the end results will be beyond our wildest expectations? And even when there aren’t fantastic results, or maybe no apparent results at all, could it be that one day we’ll see what now is veiled and be overwhelmed by how God used our feeble attempts for His glory and purpose?
How does the old saying go? “God’s biddings are His enablings?” Take a minute to reread the story in Mark 16:1 – 7. Then start climbing the rocky path in your life. Or push on with renewed energy from wherever you are along that path. He IS alive, and the stone has already been moved!
Has God asked you to do something for Him that you don’t know how to do? Is there a task before you that seems impossible to complete? Maybe He has given you the idea for a ministry that you have no idea how to carry out. Maybe you have a wounded relationship that needs to be repaired, forgiven and reconciled, but you can’t muster the strength or even the will to begin. Maybe your current financial circumstances hold you captive, preventing the carrying out of good intentions in your heart. Or perhaps you find yourself in all three of these categories at once!
Should you sit at home, so to speak, and wait for your circumstances, your abilities, or feelings to change before going out to do God’s biddings? Listen to this story. You’ve heard it before, I’m sure.
It’s early on a Sunday morning, just as the sun is inching its way up over the eastern hills. Three ladies carrying aromatic bundles in their arms hurry as they trudge along a rocky pathway. They have good intentions in their hearts, a task they have a burden to carry out, one which seems impossible. But they are not waiting at home. Hurry along with them so you can catch the discussion.
“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
"I don't know, but we'll think of something, I hope! Anyway, lets keep going"!
"We already bought the spices. We may as well try. Hurry up! It's already getting warm!"
Luke tells us that Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James had purchased their spices Saturday night. They knew the stone was too heavy for them to move, but they went shopping anyway. They know the huge bolder in front of the Master’s burial place won’t budge, let alone move enough for them to squeeze by, even with all three of them pushing. But still they have gotten up early and are headed to the tomb.
Foolish? Maybe. I’m sure they all had other needs clamoring for the money spent on burial spices. And no doubt they could have used some extra sleep this morning. After all, it has been a very exhausting couple of days. There’s nothing like sleeping in on a cool spring morning to refresh one’s outlook!
But not these ladies. They have a burning desire to do something, and even that impassible rock can’t keep them from trying. So they keep climbing, wondering as they go. And, would you believe it? As they round the last bend in the path they all gasp at once. And you do, too. For, as you look up, you all see that the stone, which is “very LARGE,” has already been rolled away!
You remember how it goes. The angel tells them not to be alarmed. He gives them a message to relay to the disciples – you know, those guys who are too frightened to come out of the upper room long enough to help the ladies! And there’s the amazing news that Jesus isn’t even in the tomb any more! That the spices won’t be needed, because He is alive!
Wow! How much better to be the bearers of good news than to embalm a corpse, even that of a very dear Friend?! Could it be that when we strike out in faith to accomplish the thing God has put in our hearts that He has already rolled away the stone? That He has an even better plan than we could ever imagine? That the end results will be beyond our wildest expectations? And even when there aren’t fantastic results, or maybe no apparent results at all, could it be that one day we’ll see what now is veiled and be overwhelmed by how God used our feeble attempts for His glory and purpose?
How does the old saying go? “God’s biddings are His enablings?” Take a minute to reread the story in Mark 16:1 – 7. Then start climbing the rocky path in your life. Or push on with renewed energy from wherever you are along that path. He IS alive, and the stone has already been moved!
