Breaking Through

                                            So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone,  and setting a watch. 

Matthew 27:66

I have both the pleasure and the sadness to watch my daughter becoming her own adult in this crazy world.  I see the joys of accomplishments, the awe of realization and the sadness and fear when things get tough. Real tough.

I went to stay with her for a little while during this last life-change and we are going through the storm together (her dad was there a lot too). We were both put in a very unfamiliar environment with a different set of rules.

As I adjusted to my new neighborhood, I did the first thing any antsy outdoorsy woman would do – I searched and found the closest decent park for lunchtime picnics and pondering of life struggles.

One particularly challenging day, I went there as I always do and sat with the ducks along the lake.  Then as I walked back to my car I noticed the walking path had cracks in the asphalt.  Coming up from the cracks were weeds and some dandelions.

Why would a flower want to grow there, I thought?

“And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Matthew 13:23

Although there was probably some good soil under that path, the seed didn’t have a choice.  But it overcame a hard hot obstacle. And just like that delicate flower, I realize that sometimes it won’t be easy to bloom, but to try and rise above the rock-bottom circumstances.

Despite best efforts, the world cannot defeat life.

 He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62:2

To seal up the unsightly or get rid of it, in this world we use:

Asphalt

Stone

Poisons

Concrete

Sand

Dirt

All these still break or weaken over time because nothing in the world lasts. And despite these tough elements in any position, life eventually finds its way through and breaks that hard surface.

Like when Christ died and was put in a tomb with a giant rock to seal it, everlasting life pushed it aside like a pebble, and He walked out – alive!

When life gets tough, I have that Life in me to find a way through the world’s best efforts to bring me down to the lows and tries to suppress my faith.  It can’t.  He who is in me is greater than he in the world or anything in it. (1John 4:4)

Things planted with a little soil, a little water, a little sunlight can still grow on rocks.  Life still finds a way through the toughest struggles because the Solid Rock is our foundation.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. Isaiah 28:16