Roll away the stone in your life

​The message at the heart of the experience I'm leading this week is that we can all overcome hard stuff. That's why these experiences always feel spiritual to me. Because that's the message at the heart of my Christian experience.

I can overcome hard stuff.

I tend to skip by an important detail in the Jesus-rose-from-the-grave story. The stone that was rolled away from his tomb is estimated to have weighed between 1-2 tons.

Overcoming the grave was quite literally a heavy challenge. But what a beautiful reminder, then, to look back and see that stone still rolled away.

No stone too heavy.

I always hope when I'm standing before folks like I am this week, that in some way I look like a stone rolled away. That I look like someone who has overcome hard stuff as a source of hope that they can too.

As a source of hope they can roll back into hurting communities looking like rolled away stones themselves.

On a break yesterday, a young lady told me about struggles she's going through in life. When she was done telling me about them, she looked at me and said, but I just keep rolling.

I smiled inside as I pictured a stone rolling away.

There's a set of lyrics in the Elevation Worship song Another Stone that say:

We're not three days away
From an empty grave
Another stone is rolling in the room right now
Is it you right now?
A new you right now?

So powerful.

We don't have to wait for the stone to roll away. It has rolled. And unleashed within all of us the power to roll away the stones trapping us inside the tombs of our own lives.

Nothing reminds me more that I am a new me than leading the kind of experience I get to lead this week. Standing in the front of the room, I am reminded my path was through and out of a tomb.

When the new me looks back, he no longer sees the old me. He sees a stone rolled away.

Another stone is rolling in the room right now.

Is it you right now?

A new you right now?

I pray it is. And that you too will walk through the world as a source of hope, as the image of a stone rolled away.