A Path Among the Rocks

A Path Among the Rocks            

Hello fellow believers and welcome to my humble attempt to share some words of encouragement with you as we travel together on this journey of faith. Life isn’t always easy.  Sometimes we have hills and valleys on our journey with hair pin curves and unexpected bumps and detours along the way.  This blog “A Path Among the Rocks” is named after the painting you see above.  The painting is by a French impressionist artist from the 1860’s. Don’t worry, this isn’t and won’t be a fancy blog about impressionist art, but I do want to share the story of how I came to know about this painting and what an 1860’s artist and his painting have to do with this blog.   Believe it or not, the image appeared on my computer start up screen as a Microsoft spotlight screen saver.  I was immediately drawn to it, so I decided to do some research to learn more about it.   

I had never seen this painting before but there was something oddly familiar to me about it.  What I learned is that this painting was painted by Theodore Rousseau around 1861 and was originally entitled “An Early Summer Morning in the Forest of Fontainebleau.”  At some point through the years and as the painting exchanged owners, it was no longer described using the original name, but became known as “A Path Among the Rocks.”  If you look closely at the painting, it is easy to see why.  There are more boulders and large rocks in this scene than trees! 

When I first looked at this painting, my initial reaction was the soft bright blues that made a perfect sky on a beautiful summer day.  But as I looked closer, I noticed all those rocks, and I realized the familiarity.  It reminded me of the country farm where I was raised.  There were more rocks on our forty acres than in the Rocky Mountains, or at least it seemed that way when we had to pick those rocks up and throw them out of the garden area before planting time.  “We grew a lot of rocks” my mother would always say. 

As I contemplated this painting, I began to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit, and as I opened my heart to what the Lord might be trying to teach me, I thought about those wilderness places where God’s children were constantly finding themselves among the rocks.  Outside of their promised land.  Maneuvering through their journey filled with obstacles to overcome.  Physical and spiritual rocks to remove from their path.  

In Matthew 13:20-21, Jesus taught a parable about a rocky path that caused some problems too.  He explained that the seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word, and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  Unfortunately, those troubles of life continue today for all of us and still serve to try to steal the abundant life that Jesus died to give us. The only way to make it through this journey is to be rooted and grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ and the love He has for us.   

As I think about that, I find great comfort and joy in the fact that just like this French impressionist artist who included a path through this landscape filled with obstacles, Jesus made a path among the rocks of life for us.  He made one then, and He continues to make one now. 

I hope to help shine a light on that way that Jesus made for us.  To encourage you and to share what the Bible tells us about being rooted and established in love.  To share scriptures with you for both proactive and reactive uses that will help us be prepared for those daily rocks that come our way.  I’ll share more about using scripture as part of a daily spiritual practice, but as we arm ourselves with that knowledge, I pray that we may together have all the strength that the Lord provides to comprehend what is the breadth, and length and height and depth of the love of Christ for us (Ephesians 3:17-19).   

That’s what this blog will serve to do – to serve you, fellow believer, as we make our way along the path of life among the rocks.