Rock vs. Man – Unearthing What’s Hidden

I never realize how long it’s been since I last posted and then come back and see it’s been a few months… Wow, time flies.

So a few weeks ago, or maybe even a month ago now, a friend of mine posted a picture of a rock that she tried to “kick up” while rock picking. If you’re a SW Minnesotan you’ll know what rock picking is…for everyone else, you’re lucky you don’t. 😉  Here is a picture of the rock she posted on Facebook.

When I saw her post the picture I instantly thought, “wow, that picture represents so much! I thought, it reminds me of people.”

When she first saw this rock, there was just a little bit showing. Just that top little bit on the top right side of the rock. You can see that area is clean.  The rest of this huge rock (the part full of dirt) was hidden, deep beneath the earth and it took a lot of digging and work and effort to expose the rest. It took equipment and TIME to unearth the rest of this rock.

So where am I going with this?

When you first meet someone, you only see a tiny bit of who they are. When you see someone’s posts on Facebook or Instagram you only see a fraction of that person. You don’t know what’s deep down and what makes them who they are. It takes time and energy and effort to “dig up” what makes that person who they are.  Life is messy and dirty and there are hurts and areas of your life that you don’t want exposed so you keep them deep, down and hidden from everyone; at least until you get to know them on a different level.

When was the last time you sat down and had a real, honest, raw conversation with someone?

Last night at our Thursday night bible study/ladies group/book club/best night of the week group we talked about Paul and the Corinthians. We talked about reconciliation. We talked about how we’ve shared some deep, dark, amazing, sad, and awesome things with each other.

We didn’t share these things the first night we started meeting, it’s taken time. It’s taken energy. It’s taken effort…just like it took to unearth this rock.

So today I challenge you to look beyond the little bit that someone has “exposed”. Just like the saying, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”; don’t judge a rock by what’s showing and don’t judge someone by their outward appearance or FB posts.

We all have a lot of “stuff” whether good, bad, or otherwise. We don’t have it all together. We won’t ever have it all together until we are home someday. But hey, while we’re in our temporary earthly homes, let’s take the time to get to know each other. And let’s have a little grace for each other and let’s just laugh while doing it.

Go, dig deep, and take time to really get to know someone then come back and report how richly blessed you are by that person. I know the ladies who have come and gone from our Thursday night group have SO richly blessed me beyond belief and I am SO incredibly thankful for each of them!!