between the ROCK and a hard place

This past weekend my husband, my personal handyman, put in a new fence for our backyard.  It took him all weekend, bless his little heart.  How happy he was when he was close to being done.  He only had one more post to put in which he said wouldn't take long.  Awhile later, I came out to check on him and he was still working on that same post. 

"You're still trying to put the post in?"  I asked. “It was supposed to be an easy one-two thing. Dig the hole, pour the concrete.”

He rolled his eyes. "You're not going to believe this, but I hit old blacktop right where the hole needs to be!"  he said.

I looked over and, sure enough, there was the pile of headache that blocked him from getting through.  Yesterday's rocks.  Forgotten and covered. 

We've lived in this house for 10 years. But only now were we discovering it.  And, my husband had no choice.  If this was going to be a successful project, he had to deal with it.

Sometimes, it feels like that in our hearts. God hits a hard place. I mean like a solid, unmovable place.  Maybe everywhere else He's able to push down on and move around like soft soil. There may even be places he has planted a garden. But, His goal is to have our whole hearts. He doesn't stop at the surface of things. He desires to go deep, deep down.

And, sometimes he hits blacktop. Stuff you thought would never have to be dealt with.  Stuff that is buried so deep that you forgot it was even there. Like maybe emotions and memories you suppressed.  Or maybe anger, like lava, that runs deep underground.  Maybe abuse from your childhood.  Or guilt and shame for something you did well before God came in, but you still feel the weight of it.  Maybe a phobia.  Maybe a betrayal.  Maybe a distorted way of seeing yourself.

And the Master's Hand has found it's way to it. He always knew it was there. But now He knows it's time to address it and He's asking you to be willing to trust Him – even with something so deep. He's not asking you to dig it up.  He's simply asking you to release it to Him.

Oh, by the way, my husband finished the fence.  He didn't give up until every last hard rock was moved.