Anna’s Stone
This is a true story*. It happened in Burma late last century. Anna loved talking to Jesus. At 4am in the morning she would head to a lonely spot in her village to pray. In this predominantly Buddhist country she cried out for the glory and kingdom of God to come. After some years, however, a Buddhist temple was built at the very spot where she spent time praying. How this could be, she said in her heart. Not losing faith, she persisted in her intercession. She would not allow the presence of the Buddhist temple to deter her from crying out for God’s kingdom to come. One day while she was praying, the Lord spoke to her. He asked her to do this: pick up a small stone and throw it at the temple. It seemed quite a ridiculous suggestion, what good will that make? And she thought to herself, I have no need to vent my frustration like this, committing vandalism. Still, the Lord insisted. Finally, she decided to just obey, for she never doubted the wisdom of her Master, and she could recognize His voice. So she picked up a small stone from where she stood and let fly, crying out at the same moment, “In Jesus’ Name.” Then she saw the most astounding miracle of her life! The small stone hit the huge structure and immediately she heard some strange sound coming from the building. Before she could make out what the noise was the building began to crumble and collapse right in front of her! Stunned, she could hardly believe what she had seen.
It didn’t take long for the police to pick her up for interrogation. Everyone in the neighborhood knew she went to the spot to pray. She told the police the truth, insisting that her God asked her to do it and she did it in Jesus’ Name. They were terrified and speechless, thinking what an awesome God she had. In the end they let her go. They reasoned that if her God was so powerful and would make a big temple collapse just by a small stone thrown at it there was no telling what He would do to them if they harmed her in any way. Smart move.
In case you think that I tell you this story to encourage you to go throwing stone at every temple you see, I must declare here and now that I DO NOT! I am telling you this story to bring across a point, something spiritual. This story depicts a powerful picture of the superiority of Jesus’ kingdom. It is a kingdom like no other. Whenever it comes colliding with the kingdom of this world, it always wins. Darkness cannot stand the invasion of light. Death must give way to Life.
God is more willing to invade the realm of our life for our sake than we dare think, as Anna’s story demonstrates. In fact Scripture tells us that the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chron 16:9, NKJV). Imagine this: here is God, ever looking from His throne to see if anyone would apply to His help, who would believe that He is ever present and willing to help whatever the matter. And He is ready to unleash His kingdom come crashing into our present reality and utterly turns things around for us. Can any difficulty stand in our way of the life He wants to give us? Of course not. Are you sick? Did you just lose your job? You need a breakthrough for your finances? Your marriage hit the rock? All the same, all you need is to pick up Anna’s Stone and hit your temple. Not just any stone, the Kingdom of God - a superior kingdom.
In my next post, I will share with you from Scripture another powerful picture that will get stuck in your mind just like Anna’s testimony will.
(*Note: source: Prophetic Intercession by Barbara Wentroble, p. 120. (Ventura, CA: Renew Books, 1999))
It didn’t take long for the police to pick her up for interrogation. Everyone in the neighborhood knew she went to the spot to pray. She told the police the truth, insisting that her God asked her to do it and she did it in Jesus’ Name. They were terrified and speechless, thinking what an awesome God she had. In the end they let her go. They reasoned that if her God was so powerful and would make a big temple collapse just by a small stone thrown at it there was no telling what He would do to them if they harmed her in any way. Smart move.
In case you think that I tell you this story to encourage you to go throwing stone at every temple you see, I must declare here and now that I DO NOT! I am telling you this story to bring across a point, something spiritual. This story depicts a powerful picture of the superiority of Jesus’ kingdom. It is a kingdom like no other. Whenever it comes colliding with the kingdom of this world, it always wins. Darkness cannot stand the invasion of light. Death must give way to Life.
God is more willing to invade the realm of our life for our sake than we dare think, as Anna’s story demonstrates. In fact Scripture tells us that the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chron 16:9, NKJV). Imagine this: here is God, ever looking from His throne to see if anyone would apply to His help, who would believe that He is ever present and willing to help whatever the matter. And He is ready to unleash His kingdom come crashing into our present reality and utterly turns things around for us. Can any difficulty stand in our way of the life He wants to give us? Of course not. Are you sick? Did you just lose your job? You need a breakthrough for your finances? Your marriage hit the rock? All the same, all you need is to pick up Anna’s Stone and hit your temple. Not just any stone, the Kingdom of God - a superior kingdom.
In my next post, I will share with you from Scripture another powerful picture that will get stuck in your mind just like Anna’s testimony will.
(*Note: source: Prophetic Intercession by Barbara Wentroble, p. 120. (Ventura, CA: Renew Books, 1999))
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