Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isa. 26:4)
The LORD God is referred to as the Rock, or even better, our Rock in a number of places in the Bible. And because most of us, especially those that were the original readers of the Scriptures know what a rock is, it is an apt metaphor. One of the most familiar attributes of rock, especially like the one pictured above, is its unchanging permanence; it is immovable. What other things might we deem immovable? My wife and I once had a sofa with a fold-out bed. That sucker was just this side of immovable, although move it we did. Out of a converted basement, up a narrow flight of stairs with a right angle turn to get it through the door. Now I’m no Einstein (Iggy, not his more famous brother Albert), but I’m convinced that we defied a couple laws of physics getting that thing out of the house. If you’ve ever driven on an interstate highway, especially in Florida, you might declare the old guy in the ’88 Buick LeSabre doing a tick under 52 MPH in the fast lane (with his blinker on, of course) immovable, at least out of that lane. And that line you just got into at the DMV sure seems immovable, doesn’t it?
The intrepid young man in the picture, climbing a very large rock, is my son Kenny. You see, he LOVES climbing rocks. I’d sooner walk around them, but that’s a topic for another day. Kenny used to climb “rocks” at an indoor wall in central Florida, because there ain’t no rocks down yonder. This wall was also immovable, at least under normal conditions. On natural rock or an artificial rock wall, there are dependable constants. If left alone, the surface is consistent, the “holds”, cracks, ledges, and breaks remain unchanged, and therefore the “problems” can be learned and “sent”. Climbers don’t have to wonder if Horse Pens, T-Wall, Hueco Tanks, or Red Rocks will have “up and moved” to a different locale. And while the weather, circumstances of trip, and even the climber may change, the rock will not. Try as he might, Kenny (or any other climber), cannot move, shape, bend, or will the rock to his preference or liking. To use a ridiculously but popular phrase, it is what it is. Period. Similarly, the Rock is not only immovable, but unchangeable. He is who He is (Exo. 3:14). Period.
(Click “Stand on Firmer Ground” for deeper look into Immovable Object.)