Picking Rocks

Saturday afternoon we “picked rocks”. If you’re not a farmer you probably don’t have the slightest clue what I’m referring to. Well, to be honest with you, before moving to Iowa I had NEVER, EVER heard of such a thing myself. It seemed like such a strange phenomenon to me. I grew up in a small town in Indiana. I knew farmers and there were a lot of farms around, but I had never heard of rock picking. That’s probably because rock picking isn’t necessary in Indiana. It IS necessary here in Iowa!

In order to pick rocks we have to take a tractor with a wagon pulled behind it out into a freshly planted field (before the crop is tall enough that it would get damaged). In this case, I drove the tractor with my two year old son sitting next to me. My husband and father-in-law walked along each side of the tractor looking for rocks that needed to be picked up.

The winter frost and tilling of the ground (preparing the ground for planting) cause rocks that lie beneath the surface of the field to rise to the top. Every year this happens. There are fields that my father-in-law has “rock picked” every year for the past 35 years. The rocks have to be picked up before the crops can be harvested so that they don’t damage the machinery that we use. Farm machinery isn’t cheap, you know?!

Soooo…rock picking isn’t exactly a favorite chore. It’s hard work. It's dirty. It’s tedious. It’s time consuming.

I drove the tractor for 3 ½ hours yesterday (with my little guy along) while the men picked up rocks ranging in size from the size of a man’s fist to larger ones that had to be dug up with a shovel and that one guy could not carry alone. We also picked rocks on Monday and are going back out to do it again this evening.

Here are the rocks we picked on Saturday…

along with my two gorgeous guys! :)

Stick with me here…this farm lesson has a purpose…

As I drove the tractor on Saturday (and last Monday as well) it was interesting to me how sometimes we would be traveling along quite well; speeding right through the field (if you can EVER call 2 to 3 mph speeding…*giggle*). There were places where it was rather smooth. There may be a rock here or there, but they were smaller ones. They didn’t slow us down much.
There were times when we could see a big rock coming up ahead. We knew it was coming and were kind of prepared for it.

However, there were many more times when we’d be cruising along (once again I use the word cruising lightly) when, out of no where it seemed, we would find ourselves suddenly upon a very rocky path. We had no choice, but to slow down. In fact, many times we had to stop completely. “WHOA!” my husband would shout. Time to get out the shovel. Time to put those back and arm muscles to work.

I can’t help but notice the similarity between rock picking and this journey we call life.

How many times have you been sailing right along when all of a sudden, out of no where it seems, you’ve found yourselves upon one of those rocky paths in life? You find yourself saying, “WHOA! Where did this come from? How’d I get here? What do I do now?”

I’ve heard it said that there are three kind of people in the world. Those who have just come out of the valley. Those are in the valley. Those who are going into the valley. Replace the word valley with rocky path and you get the idea.

I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been there. I have gone through some dark times in my life. I’ve struggled with issues like my parents‘ divorce, church division, broken relationships, financial issues, a life changing fire, postpartum depression, a miscarriage…just to name a few. Even now I’m struggling with neck and back pain. I saw some of these things coming. Others came out of no where!

Read Matthew 7:24-25, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock."

God doesn’t promise us that there won’t be hard times. The floods still come…the water still rises…the valley still nears…the rocky path still appears. We live in a fallen, imperfect world. The difference is in how we handle the tough times. What do we have our “house” built upon? Where do we go? What do we do?

If we have our house built upon the solid rock, Jesus Christ, we will not collapse.

II Samuel 22:2 & 3 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold, my high tower, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.” No matter what situation we find ourselves in, nothing is impossible for Him!

I love the entire chapter of II Samuel 22, David’s song of praise. In verse 7 it says, “But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I called to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears.”

Then, in verses 17-20, 29 it says, “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest, but the LORD upheld me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
O LORD, you are my light; yes, LORD, you light up my darkness.”

There was distress. There was deep water. There were enemies who attacked. There was weakness. There was darkness.

BUT GOD heard. He reached down. He rescued. He delivered. He upheld. He gave strength. He lit up the darkness.

What do we do?

We hold on to hope:
“Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”
Hebrews 10:23

We hold onto faith:
“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.” Hebrews 11:1

We don’t give up! We go to the LORD. We remember His faithfulness. We cling to His promises. We praise Him…even when we don’t feel like it. This is hard, I know…especially when depression hits. Yet, this is still so necessary because what we feel and what is true are so contrary to one another (I’ll post more about this later).

Praise God, the rocky path doesn’t last forever! Sometimes we have to slow down and put our spiritual muscles to work. It's dirty. It’s not very fun, but it’s necessary. Then, before we know it, we’re shifting gears and moving onto smoother ground.

If you’re going through a tough time, be encouraged! If you’re house is built upon the rock, not only are you safe; God hears your prayers.

If there’s something I can pray about with you, I’d feel privileged to do so. rachel.beran@yahoo.com