Christ as a Stone of Stumbling?

"Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And many among them shall stumble and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." (2 Nephi 18:13-17)

"Let [the Lord of Hosts] be your fear, ... and your dread."  I think that there are really two ways to feel about the Lord.  On one side, you dread and fear Him, because of choices you've made or whatever.  In this case, He can be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.  I think when we don't live His commandments, we know it.  We know in our hearts that we need to repent.  He can be a stumbling block for our wicked ways, blocking that path the best He can.  But, try as He might, He can't make us do anything.  We must choose for ouselves, and sometimes we choose to turn away from Him.  Sometimes we stumble and fall, and become broken, snared, and taken.

"Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, ... And he shall be for a sanctuary;"  I think when we choose to turn toward Him instead of away from Him, we find ourselves in HIs protection, He is our sanctuary.  This doesn't mean bad things don't happen to us, but it does mean that we'll have His help to get through whatever it is we are going through.

I know I'd much rather have a sanctuary than a stumbling block.