WHAT IF YOUR SOUL IS HARD AS ROCK?

What If Your Soul Is Hard as a Rock?

Water flows as Moses strikes the rock.

“He turned the rock into a pool of water;
yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock” (Psalm 114:8 NLT).

Do you ever feel bone-dry spiritually? Does your soul ever seem to be hard as a rock? Do you ever worry about whether you will once again be tender and open toward the Lord?

Perhaps you’ve never gone through a period of severe spiritual dryness? If that’s true for you, praise God! But most Christians do experience times in which our souls are so dry that they seem hard as a rock. We know we should spend devotional time with God, but the fact is we don’t want to. We know we should want to gather with other believers to worship the Lord.

But, when the time comes for Sunday services, we look desperately for excuses to stay away. We know we should work joyfully as though serving God and not people. But, too often, work feels completely disconnected from our faith. We still believe all the things we used to believe about God. But our desire for him has vanished, and we’re left with stony souls.

If you can relate to what I’m saying, then Psalm 114 has good news for you. God is in the business of getting water from rocks. Verse 8 looks back to the miraculous way God supplied water to the Israelites after he delivered them from Egypt:

“He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.” .

This verse celebrates how God produced literal water from a literal rock. ( Exodus 17:5-6)

The Hebrew word translated here as “solid rock” is more literally rendered as “flint,” which is a particularly hard rock. God can get water, not just from soft, porous rocks, but from those that are absolutely rigid and unyielding.

If God can turn a rock into a pool of water, if God can make water flow from flint, then he can transform our hearts even when they seem to be impervious to his grace. This is good news, indeed. So, if you find yourself in a spiritually rocky place today at work or at home, turn to the Lord. Ask him to make living water flow from your stony heart.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:

Have you ever been in a very dry place spiritually? Are you still there? In the past, how has God softened your heart toward him?

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, how I thank you for being a powerful, merciful God who gets water even from flint. How I thank you for your patience and grace with me. When I resist you, when my heart is stony, you nevertheless reach out to me in your grace.

Lord, you know the state of my heart today. I pray that however I am closed to you, you will help me to be open. And, in whatever way my heart is rock solid, may your living water flow out from me.

All praise be to you, mighty, merciful God! Amen.

Mark D. Roberts

Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is Senior Advisor and Theologian-in-Residence of Foundations for Laity Renewal, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas and the parent organization of Laity Lodge. He has written several books, including his most recent: Can We Trust the Gospels? (Crossway, 2007)

He blogs at http://www.patheos.com/community/markdroberts, and writes a daily devotional for http://www.thehighcalling.org.