Go Anyway

I like to be prepared.

I have extra eggs, milk, spare paper towels, and of course, toilet paper, on hand at all times. I keep a blanket in the car. My family can attest that no one leaves our house without a jacket and a bottle of water — I’m just saying, people are not getting cold or thirsty on my watch.

While this preparedness doesn’t translate into all areas of my life (take the bunny we spontaneously brought home a couple of weeks ago, for instance), it certainly takes over some. It’s great to be prepared. It’s wonderful to think through scenarios and have a first-aid kit in the car. These are all good things.

But as I was reading the Easter story for the thousandth time, a question caught my attention and made me wonder if sometimes all this preparedness just might cause me to focus on the wrong thing.

The passage in Mark 16:2-3 begins early Sunday morning, two days after Jesus was crucified. Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James, were taking spices to the tomb where Jesus was buried so they could anoint his body. They loved him very much. Their hearts were broken, and nothing was going to keep them away from him:

“Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?

You mean, they had not thought through how to move the stone? The planner in me had never noticed this before! Of course, we know the end of the story — the stone had already been moved — but they didn’t know that. Surely, when the women left their homes that morning, they had some sort of idea how they would get inside.

Scripture says they didn’t.

And I wondered, if I was one of the women, would I have gone to the tomb without a plan? Would I have kept my eyes on Jesus, or would I have been distracted by the very real and very heavy obstacle of the tomb stone?

The reality is, we all focus on the stone sometimes. We think about the hard part, the tough stuff, and we lose sight of what we really want. I’m not saying we need to take unnecessary and foolish risks — God gave us brains for a reason. But the enemy loves to distract us in whatever way he can, and he will throw boulders of doubt, fear, and insecurity in our path to keep us from walking the course the Lord has laid out.

It’s scary to think about changing jobs, chasing a dream, or watching our kids make big life decisions. But we have to be willing to step out in faith and trust God to take care of us in what He’s asking us to do. We have to be willing to listen when God whispers, “I know you’re afraid, but go anyway. I already moved the stone.”

 

TWEETABLES

Can’t see past the obstacles in your path? Go anyway. He already moved the stone. (click to tweet)