A few years ago I had a chance to travel to Marble Colorado and visit the marble mines there. Now when I think of marble I think of the monuments in cemeteries, the decoration on Courthouses, things like that. In fact the marble from this area was used to build the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
I had always assumed that marble was literally “as solid as a rock.” But it turns out that marble is really fragile. All around the mines were smaller discarded pieces of marble that had been exposed to Colorado winters for 30 or 40 years. It looked solid enough, but if you held it in your hand and squeezed it would dissolve into dust!
They call it sugar marble and it is the same marble that is used to make monuments, except it is not polished and sealed. Exposed to the elements it begins to break down rather quickly; it becomes very fragile. It still looks like a rock, but just a little pressure and it falls to pieces.
Naturally, in our own strength, we are like that marble. The winds and rains come, the trials and struggles of life, the cold nights and long hot days and we begin to break down. We are not nearly as strong as we think we are. The Bible tells us, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge (Psalm 18:2 NIV).
Believers can be like that too. We need to be polished and sealed in order to stay strong. When we read the Bible, when we keep ourselves free from sin, when we are a part of a good Church, we are strong like a rock. But when we neglect God’s Word, when we allow sin to rule our lives, when we abandon the shelter of His Church, we become brittle. We may look good on the outside, but just a little pressure and we dissolve into dust.
There is only one Rock that will last. There is only one Rock that will stand the test of time and that Rock is Jesus. Marble will dissolve, even granite will erode over time, but the Lord will never fail. He is the Rock that makes us strong.
Have you polished up your faith lately? Are you allowing God’s Word to speak into your life? Do you involve yourself in the fellowship and ministry of your local Church? All these things keep us strong. Let the Lord be your Rock and in Him you will find the strength to weather the storms of life.
BroJon 