A Stone In The Road / The Cost of Obedience

Over the past week the Lord has been reminding me of a school play that I was in back in the first grade. At first, the memory of this play came to my mind like a quick flashback then later on I thought more about it and recognized that this wasn’t just a random memory, it was actually the Holy Spirit wanting to show me something.

The play was called A Stone in the Road. To the best of my recollection (it was over forty years ago, after all), in this play someone places a big boulder in the middle of a road and waits in hiding to see how people will respond when they come to it. Over time many people go down the road and some people trip over it, some people ignore and go around it, while others get very offended at it and mad that there’s this stone in the road. These ones spend time complaining about it and get upset about it but move on and do nothing about it.

In the end someone comes along and actually moves the stone out of the road only to find that there is this (I don’t remember exactly what it was, but let’s call it a) “pearl of great price” hidden underneath the rock. The moral of the story, not unlike the Good Samaritan, there was only one person who took the time to deal with something that looked like an obstacle, an offense, something annoying or of a nuisance, a hindrance.

By him taking action he actually encountered a prize, a reward. He chose to stop His progress in order to remove what was in the way. He didn’t ignore it or get offended by it. He was mindful of what was around him enough to not get hurt by it or stumble over it. By choosing to take action and pick up and move this stone he uncovered its real purpose thus passing the test and receiving a reward for his sacrifice.

As I was reflecting on this story, the Lord showed me a vision of that same rock turning into a cross, and below the cross were the words “the cross of offense”. He was showing me that there are many of us, myself included, that are looking at circumstances and looking at things that seem to be in the way of our dreams, the promises of God, hopes, ambitions, or whatever they may be, that appear to have obstacles in the way to see them fulfilled. There are all these good things that we know the Lord has for us, but all we see right now are delays and obstacles. As these have appeared in our live’s paths, we have all done different things with them. We’ve been offended by them. We’ve discussed them at length with others. We’ve complained about them to God and others. We’ve prayed about them and even rebuked them in attempts to make them go away once and for all. All of these things we have done because we have seen this “stone” in our road to be in our way and from the enemy. We have used this as an excuse or a reason why we have not moved forward in obedience to what the Lord has told us to do. We’ve perceived that this is something that either needs to be strategically removed or else completely ignored until it is no longer in our way or at least out of sight.

However, the Lord wants us all to know that, ultimately, this stone in the road has actually been placed there by Him. It is actually His cross and He’s asking us to "pick up the Cross and follow Him". It is NOT something to pray against, ignore, skirt around, or rebuke. It is something to embrace and hold onto. With natural eyes it is offensive, but in the spirit it is the very thing we long for, we need - it is Jesus himself!

In our obedience, regardless of how much discomfort or inconvenience it may bring, lies the treasure of great price. I see this as being a moment of choice, we can choose to talk about it; we can choose to try to work around it; we could choose to pray against it. We can even try to cast it into the sea. When, all the while, the Lord wants us to pick up our cross, crucify our flesh, and follow Him at any cost.

This is a pivotal moment for us on our journey. It’s a moment where He’s asking us to trust Him and follow Him. What He is calling us into is going to cost us our convenience

and our comfort. It will cost us, but it’s a small price to pay for the great prize that is Himself. When we chose Jesus who is the “stone that the builders rejected”, we receive the One who is “the chief cornerstone”. We receive the One who is Christ the rock of offense. We must remember that the Cross is foolishness, but is the power of God by which we are saved.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief Cornerstone. [Ps 118:22]”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ ‭AMP‬‬

““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭45‬-‭46‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The Cost of Obedience

“Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭AMP

Just like Jesus, we learn obedience through the things we suffer. It requires us to willingly choosing to die to our selves and our comforts and our lives of convenience for the sake of faithfully pursuing the only One who is always faithful and always True.

As I reflect on what the Lord is teaching me in this season, I am intentionally looking at my life with a new perspective. I am examining things that I once immediately labeled as obstacles that are keeping me from my desired destination, that now I am seeing as opportunities to pick up my cross, crucify my flesh, and continue my journey in full surrender to Jesus through unwavering obedience. I am learning that I can pay the price required through obedience, pick up my cross and follow Jesus and still command the seas to part and walk across on dry land. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, but it has to be done in the right order. I can’t pray away God’s desire for me to be like Christ and learn obedience and deny my flesh. He loves me to much for me to live in entitlement that will ultimately keep me from becoming all He has created me to become, which is a son who is fashioned and formed in His own image, reflecting the very likeness of Jesus. I can never graduate from this assignment. I will never grow out of the need to lay down my will and yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As I do, I find that my authority in Christ to speak to mountains and cast them into the sea becomes a reality and an effective weapon for pioneering paths for not just myself but for those the Lord has called me to serve and to lead.

I often have found myself trying to graduate without passing the test. The test of obedience through surrender. The cost of obedience is everything I am. The reward is everything He is living in me. It is a small price to pay and that is why Jesus endured the cross (for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross) and it is why I will choose the same. Because He is my pearl of great price and my great reward!

Prayer:

Jesus, give us eyes to see you. Father give us discernment to see what is around us and how you want us to respond. Lord help us to choose to daily pick up our cross to follow you and to lay down our false sense of entitlement. To lay down our comfort, lay down our offenses, and to give ourselves fully to You so that nothing would be bigger in our eyes than who You are. No promise, no dream, no hope, no reward, Lord nothing would be bigger than purely following You as those who are completely in love with You.

We take this time to count the cost once again, and pick up the cross, obeying You whatever You require. We give it all to You, Lord.

-In Jesus name, Amen!

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. [Rom 8:28] [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬, ‭22‬-‭25‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]— for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!””

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭AMP‬‬