Better Stones

March. 18,  2019

We talked as we leaned against the old station wagon parked by the side of the road, tracing the gravel on the side of the road with the toes of our boots. “You know,” he said, “God could raise better servants than us from the stones beneath our feet.” He added, “But isn’t it amazing that he chose us?” Earl Higley was a tall, lanky dairy farmer who had heard God’s call into ministry. I met him one summer while working at Miracle Mountain Ranch in Spring Creek, PA, and he was now itching to start a Christian camp in the hills of western Kentucky. He knew God wasn’t looking for ability as much as availability, which for most of us is a good thing. Earl was available, and that made all the difference.

I suspect we often miss out on God’s blessing because they come wrapped in difficulties we imagine are too daunting. Those blessings aren’t found lying around on the surface of life waiting to be picked up like children pick up stones or leaves they find interesting. The real valuables of life have to be mined, cut, and polished, if the glory of the gem is to be revealed. Even then, sometimes the beauty is only in the eye of the beholder. 

I’ve talked about my musical journey with the pit band. When I first saw the music, I thought, “This doesn’t look too hard.” Then I examined it closely, the jazzy syncopation, the numerous key changes, notes that danced across the page with reckless abandon, and I realized I was in over my head. The problem was, by the time I realized it, it was too late. I tried to enlist some bass students from the college, but no one came to my rescue, so there was no alternative but to give it my best, which I did. There’s no doubt in my mind that there are plenty of people who could have done a better job than me, but it came down to a matter of availability over ability. “Yes” trumps “I could do this” every time. And along the way, I received blessings I would have missed had I succeeded in my attempts to wiggle out of it. I met some great people, improved my playing, and received more encouragement than I can tell you. God could have raised a better player from the stones beneath my feet, but when asked, I said yes, and that yes made all the difference.