And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone for us?”
But when they looked up, they saw the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.
Mark 16:3-4

Mary and the others went to cover Jesus with spices. They did not have a command from the Lord to do it; they simply wanted to. However, a large and seemingly immovable stone stood between their intentions and desires to honor Him and His physical body. Sound familiar? Have you ever desired to know Jesus more deeply, but there seemed to be a hindrance. Perhaps a personal failure, wound, or disappointment?

There are two equal and opposite errors we make when dealing with our sin, failures, and mistakes. One is to think that grace is God’s willingness to pretend that our sin or failure does not exist. This is not true. He sees everything in us, even that which we do not see. God does not turn a blind eye to our junk. The second error is to think we have to get over it, around it, or move it out of the way ourselves before we can enjoy His presence. This is not true either. We are not big enough to roll away the stone.

The grace of God is God’s willingness to move the stone Himself, by whatever means He chooses. There are some actions we are responsible for. We are responsible to ask others for help. We are responsible to go to others in the body of Christ, who love and care for us, and confess our faults and ask for prayer. We are responsible to come to the garden prepared to honor Jesus. God will take care of the stone!

Come to Jesus with all your sin, mistakes, ignorance, disappointments, and wounds. Come to honor Him, to pour your love on Him, and watch the grace of God move the stone for you! As you go into the garden of encounter, Gabriel might be on his way to roll away your stone.