Meditative Journey: The Rock Tumbler of Life

I’m always looking for meaning in the madness of life. Today, during a meditative journey, I was given a parable about the rock tumbler of life. It shifted my perspective on the meaning of life and why things happen the way they do in mortality.

We’ve been reading the Old Testament – specifically the stories of Rahab the harlot and Ruth. These women changed their stories. They started out in less-than-happy circumstances. God turned their lives around and they became the great grandmothers of the Son of God.

Rahab the harlot helped save the spies sent into Jericho. She and her family were spared when the city fell. She went on to become the mother of Boaz who married Ruth, the widowed Moabitess. Ruth and Boaz were the great grandparents of King David. King David had an affair with Bathsheba who gave birth to King Solomon as a result. Each of these people had messy stories, and yet God helped them live amazing lives. They played important roles in the over-arching plan of God’s deliverance of mankind.

I’ve been pondering on these individuals and thinking of my own life and the messes along the way. I’ve spent a lot of hours ruminating, trying to understand why things have happened the way they did in my life, what I’m to learn from these things, and how God’s amazing grace has transformed my life into something truly amazing. Obviously, God is showing us that through Christ, we can change our stories and that all things work together for good to those who love God.

Today, prior to my meditation, I prayerfully asked, “What else are you trying to teach us through these people? I feel a lot like them … a messy life that you’re transforming into something good.”

The Rock Tumbler Parable

I was given a comparison to gemstones. Rocks start off rough and rather lackluster. Yet, after tumbling and polishing, they eventually morph into something really beautiful.

In heavenly realms or paradises, there isn’t enough contrast to bump off the edges in our character or polish us into what God knows we can and will become. God is in the business of transformation. As I met with my Heavenly Parents in my mind, I could tell that they take great joy and delight in the transformation of a soul. It’s like the wonder I felt as a child putting my rocks into a rock tumbler and then having them come out the other side weeks later, polished and beautiful. Even a humble-looking piece of gravel can look quite beautiful with polishing.

I understood or felt that the glory of God is found in witnessing the progression and transformation of souls. God isn’t thrown by our mess along the way. Yes, God wants us to understand the way of happiness. God doesn’t enjoy watching us suffer, but God’s not obsessing over everything we do wrong. God sees the finished product in us. Mortality is like the tumbler we’re tossed into to have grit and polish refine us.

In my mind’s eye, I saw a bunch of people bumping around, circling, inside a rock tumbler. I realized it’s not so important about who or what we’re bumping up against… it’s the overall tumbling process that is doing the polishing.

I felt that our Heavenly Parents don’t obsess over what happens in the tumbler. We may mourn that a rock knocked a piece of us off or that a slew of grit scraped us viciously. Why? Why? Did this have to happen to me? we cry!

In the end, the details aren’t that important. We live in a fallen world… a tumbler designed to knock our rough edges off and polish us into something beautiful. It’s the point of being here!

We all make mistakes. We all have challenges in a fallen world. We all get hurt by other people who are trying to figure out their own lives. We’re polishing others with our choices and they’re polishing us. It’s all just part of the process. The question is, Do we let those things polish us for the better or do we let them make us bitter?

Do we keep turning to Jesus Christ so He can change us and walk us back to the presence of the Father? When we arrive there, God isn’t going to obsess over water under the bridge or make us rehash a blow-by-blow recap of everything that hit us in the tumbler. Yes, a life review may very well be part of the process, but it’s not about the details of the process as much as it’s about who we BECAME in the tumbler of life.

Perhaps any life review we experience is more for our benefit. We’re the ones trying to understand the “why’s” and “how’s.” We’re the ones over-analyzing every little thing. We’re the confused ones, looking for meaning inside of every hit, bump, or scrape inside a rock tumbler. All God cares about is WHO we BECAME through CHRIST.

God is rejoicing in the finished product – made clear, pure, and shiny by the blood of the Lamb.