I tell you that if [they] should keep silent, the stores would immediately cry out.
Luke 19:40
Have Your Rocks Cried Yet?
All the people-especially the children-were waving palm branches and shouting praise as Jesus entered Jerusalem. The shouts were becoming a roar as the Pharisees and lawyers pleaded with Him to shut up His followers least the Romans be offended by the noise. But Jesus not only refused their request, He warned that if humans didn't praise Him the very rocks would cry out! God Himself was riding toward the temple built for His use and praise. Heaven had touched earth. The King was coming! It was a time for shouting!
Some think Jesus' words were purely metaphorical. He was exaggerating to make a point. However, I'm not so sure. Later, when the shouts of praise stopped, the earth shook and the rocks split. All that couldn't have been managed without noise. Lots of it.
I haven't seen too many rocks spontaneously split open lately but there are earthquakes, mudslides, and floods all around our planet. Volcanoes erupt and rivers change courses. The planet moves. It's alive with action and some think these movements in direct response to the burden of sin it carries. I don't know so much about that. Perhaps it could be one way the rocks "cry out." But I know of another way that a different kind of rocks cry through human voices and these just might be the purest cries of praise that exist.
It's common for humans to talk of "hard times." Those situations, moods and events that press and trap and hurt. We call them "hard" because of their stubborn nature. Pound on them, push them, wish them gone; it doesn't matter. The hard thing stays right where it was, immovable and implacable. Hard. Like a rock.
God tells us He has reasons for allowing hard times. He has plans. One day, everything-even what we thought of as "hard"-will work out for our benefit and His glory [1]. But, until then, we can use our rock as an opportunity for faith-praising. The "rock" as it were, cries out through human voices. Anyone can praise God in easy times but when a rock comes our way, praising becomes something different than it was before. This kind of praise is formed from a steadfast trust in God's character. It is an act of faith that grows from the presence of a rock.
When my rock makes me cry out in praise, something strange happens. Once in a while, the hard time instantly goes away. More often, something inside me changes and-like Jacob [2]-my rock becomes my pillow. It may not be a fluffy, comfortable piece of bedding, but it works and I don't fight the situation any longer. I can rest. And, also like Jacob, as praises make my struggles cease, often a new vision dawns as I rest and I find that God has been beside my bed all along.
[1] Romans 8:28
[2] Genesis 28:11
