A Stone in the Road: Embracing Our Cross

The Lesson from a Childhood Play

Over the past week, the Lord has been reminding me of a school play I was in back in the first grade. At first, the memory came to me like a quick flashback. Later, I realized that this wasn’t just a random memory. It was actually the Holy Spirit wanting to show me something important.

The play was called A Stone in the Road. To the best of my recollection (it was over forty years ago, after all), in this play, someone places a big boulder in the middle of a road and waits in hiding to see how people will respond. Over time, many people travel down the road. Some trip over it, some ignore it and go around it, while others get very offended and mad that there’s this stone in the road. These individuals spend time complaining about it, get upset, but ultimately move on without taking action.

In the end, someone comes along and actually moves the stone out of the road. They discover a “pearl of great price” hidden underneath the rock. The moral of the story, much like the Good Samaritan, is that only one person took the time to deal with something that looked like an obstacle. This person chose to stop their progress to remove what was in the way. They didn’t ignore it or get offended by it. Instead, they were mindful of their surroundings, which prevented them from getting hurt or stumbling over it. By choosing to take action and move this stone, they uncovered its real purpose, thus passing the test and receiving a reward for their sacrifice.

The Cross of Offense

As I reflected on this story, the Lord showed me a vision of that same rock turning into a cross. Below the cross were the words “the cross of offense.” He revealed that many of us, myself included, often look at circumstances that seem to obstruct our dreams, the promises of God, hopes, ambitions, or whatever they may be. These obstacles appear to block our path to fulfillment. We know the Lord has good things for us, yet all we see are delays and hindrances.

As these obstacles appear in our lives, we respond in various ways. We’ve been offended by them. We’ve discussed them at length with others. We’ve complained about them to God and others. We’ve prayed about them and even rebuked them in attempts to make them go away once and for all. All of these actions stem from seeing this “stone” in our road as a barrier placed there by the enemy. We use it as an excuse for not moving forward in obedience to what the Lord has told us to do. We perceive it as something that needs to be strategically removed or completely ignored until it is no longer in our way or at least out of sight.

However, the Lord wants us to know that this stone in the road has actually been placed there by Him. It is His cross, and He’s asking us to "pick up the Cross and follow Him." It is NOT something to pray against, ignore, skirt around, or rebuke. It is something to embrace and hold onto. With natural eyes, it appears offensive, but in the spirit, it is the very thing we long for and need—it is Jesus Himself!

The Treasure of Obedience

In our obedience, regardless of how much discomfort or inconvenience it may bring, lies the treasure of great price. This moment presents a choice: we can choose to talk about it; we can choose to work around it; we could choose to pray against it. We can even try to cast it into the sea. All the while, the Lord wants us to pick up our cross, crucify our flesh, and follow Him at any cost.

This is a pivotal moment in our journey. It’s a moment where He’s asking us to trust Him and follow Him. What He is calling us into will cost us our convenience and comfort. It will cost us, but it’s a small price to pay for the great prize that is Himself. When we choose Jesus, who is the “stone that the builders rejected,” we receive the One who is “the chief cornerstone.” We receive the One who is Christ, the rock of offense. We must remember that the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God by which we are saved.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace], it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief Cornerstone. [Ps 118:22]”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, and upon finding a single pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭45‬-‭46‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The Cost of Obedience

“Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭AMP‬

Just like Jesus, we learn obedience through our suffering. It requires us to willingly choose to die to ourselves, our comforts, and our lives of convenience for the sake of faithfully pursuing the only One who is always faithful and always true.

As I reflect on what the Lord is teaching me in this season, I am intentionally looking at my life with a new perspective. I am examining things that I once labeled as obstacles that now I see as opportunities to pick up my cross, crucify my flesh, and continue my journey in full surrender to Jesus through unwavering obedience. I am learning that I can pay the price required through obedience, pick up my cross, and follow Jesus while still commanding the seas to part and walking across on dry land. It doesn’t have to be one or the other, but it must be done in the right order. I can’t pray away God’s desire for me to be like Christ and learn obedience while denying my flesh. He loves me too much for me to live in entitlement, which ultimately keeps me from becoming all He has created me to be—a son fashioned and formed in His image, reflecting the very likeness of Jesus.

I can never graduate from this assignment. I will never grow out of the need to lay down my will and yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As I do, I find that my authority in Christ to speak to mountains and cast them into the sea becomes a reality and an effective weapon for pioneering paths, not just for myself, but for those the Lord has called me to serve and lead.

I often find myself trying to graduate without passing the test—the test of obedience through surrender. The cost of obedience is everything I am. The reward is everything He is living in me. It is a small price to pay, and that is why Jesus endured the cross (for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross). This is why I will choose the same. Because He is my pearl of great price and my great reward!

Prayer

Jesus, give us eyes to see You. Father, grant us discernment to understand what is around us and how You want us to respond. Lord, help us choose to daily pick up our cross to follow You and to lay down our false sense of entitlement. Help us to lay down our comfort, our offenses, and to give ourselves fully to You so that nothing would be bigger in our eyes than who You are. No promise, no dream, no hope, no reward—Lord, nothing would be bigger than purely following You as those who are completely in love with You.

We take this time to count the cost once again and pick up the cross, obeying You whatever You require. We give it all to You, Lord.

-In Jesus' name, Amen!

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].’”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace], it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. [Rom 8:28] [This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort].”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬, ‭22‬-‭25‬ ‭AMP‬‬

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]—for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit, you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. For all who are allowing themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭AMP‬‬