Don't Think, Just Push 用力推,不必想
There once was a man who fell asleep in his cabin when all of a sudden his room was filled with Light and God appeared. The Lord told the man that He had a job for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of the cabin. The Lord explained to him that he was to simply push against the rock with all his might.
从前有一个人在自己的小屋睡觉时,突然房间充满亮光,上帝显现了,并召唤他为祂做一件事。上帝指着屋前的一块大石头,告诉他说,只要尽全力去推那块石头就行了。
Then with his shoulders set
squarely against the cold,
massive surface of the unmoving rock, the man carried out his task day after day for many years, toiling with all his might from sun up to sun down. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling as if his whole day had been spent in vain.
于是这个人用他的肩膀紧紧地抵住那块粗糙、冰冷又文风不动的岩石,日复一日地履行上帝赋予他的任务。每天从日出到日落,他都使尽全力辛苦地推石头,就这样过了好几年。每到夜晚,当他回到自己的小屋时,总是浑身疼痛又筋疲力竭,感觉好像每天都徒劳无功。
Satan observed that the man was showing signs of
discouragement and so he
decided to enter the picture and place thoughts into the man's mind such as, "You've been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You're never going to move it," thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.
这时撒旦注意到他出现沮丧的表情,于是决定插手介入,撒旦在他的心中植入一些负面的想法,像是:「你推那块石头那么久了,但它连动都不动一下。干嘛把时间浪费在这上面?这块石头是不可能移得开的。」撒旦让他感到这项任务不可能达成,他是一个失败者。
Naturally, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more and he thought to himself, "Why kill yourself over this? I'll put in my time, but only give the
minimum of effort and that should be good enough."
这些想法让那个人更加灰心沮丧。「为什么要卖命做这种事?」他告诉自己:「我还是会继续做下去,但只用最少的力气就好了。」
He then planned to do just that until one day he
decided to pray over the matter and take his troubling thoughts to the Lord,
saying, "Lord, I've labored long and hard in Your service. Putting all my strength into doing that which You've asked. Yet, after all this time, I haven't even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What's wrong? Why am I failing?"
他内心一直盘算着要那么做,直到有一天他决定向上帝祷告,把他的困扰告诉上帝。「上帝!」他说:「我已为您效力很久了。我费尽全力去做您所吩咐的事,可是推了那么久,那块石头却连个半公厘也推不动。这到底是怎么回事?为什么我推不动那块石头呢?」
To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me, I told you that your task was simply to push against the rock with all your strength. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push and that you've done. Now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you've failed. But, is that really so? Look at you. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back brown, your hands callused from constant pressure and your legs
massive and hard. Through opposition you've grown much and your abilities now
surpass those which you use to have.
这时上帝慈悲地回答说:「我的朋友,当初我要求你的工作,只是要你尽全力去推那块石头而已,我从未要求你把它移开。你的任务就只是推那块石头,而你已经做到了。现在你来到我的面前,诉苦说自己筋疲力竭,而且任务失败。不过,真的是这样吗?看看你自己!你的手臂变得更强壮有力,你的背黝黑发亮,而你的手长出厚厚的茧来,腿也变得结实粗壮了。经过不断的磨练,你已经成长许多,拥有前所未有的能力。
True, you haven't moved the rock, but your
calling was to be
obedient, to push and exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom, and this you've done. I, my friend, will now move the rock."
的确,你没能移动那块石头,但你的任务是服从,是去推石头,锻炼你对我的智慧的信心和信赖,而这点你已经做到了。朋友,现在就由我来移动这块石头!」
This story demonstrates that at times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect to decipher what Hes wants, when actually what God wants is just simple
obedience and faith in Hirm. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is
ultimately God Who moves mountains. ♥
这个故事告诉我们,有时候当我们听到上帝的指示时,我们会用自己的想法来解读上帝要求的事。事实上,上帝所要的,只是很单纯的对祂服从和信心。我们要尽全力锻炼自己的信心,相信移山倒海的可能,不过要知道,那座山最终是由上帝移动的。
关键字:
好文共赏生词表: