There’s a clinic in our town where they offer the woman a stone just before they walk her down the hall to perform the abortion. This stone is to symbolize the difficult choice she is making and to help her through it.

The first time I heard about this was when a young lady came to the center for a pregnancy test. As we sat across from each other, I started to ask her some routine questions which lead to her sharing with me about her abortions. Half way through her story she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small semi-glossy stone. I’m sure the look on my face was puzzling, because it was then she began to explain where she got it and why it was given to her. She said they told her that this stone would help her get through this difficult time and that it would bring healing. For the first time I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

As I sat there listening to all the reasons why she went through with her abortions, I could see the pain in her heart as her fingers wrapped tightly around the stone. She assured me that life for her was just fine, but her fingers were telling me a different story as they were turning white from clutching the stone.

On my way home, her words kept rolling around in my mind. I thought “why a stone?” Then it dawned on me. Some religions believe that stones bring healing and others believe they protect you from evil spirits. I’m familiar with this way of thinking because my older sister practices this stone believing faith (?).

The next morning during my time with the Lord, He brought me to Ezekiel 36:26. He laid on my heart that many of us have false idols in our lives, just like the Israelites did. When we decide to take hold of  false ‘truth’ in this world, our hearts become callous and in time turn hard … just like the stone that the young woman was holding in her hand. The voice of God starts to grow faint. We start to act on what we feel and not on God’s truth, or we become too ashamed to ever believe that the God of the Universe could love us.

Many times I think about that stone and what it truly represents. It’s a reminder of what could have been, what should have been, if only we hadn’t placed our desires before God’s. I remember when my desires caused me to ignore the voice of God.  How thankful I am that God didn’t leave me in that place. It wasn’t easy facing what I had done, but it never is. My willingness to lay down my filthy rags for His righteousness was the beginning of my stony heart becoming a heart of flesh.

When placing our lives in God’s hands, our hearts become flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.