Written by Debbie West
Take today’s next step: Take the 35 Day Challenge and get unstuck.
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12b-13)
When my niece Caroline was almost two years old, I took her to the mall to run an errand for her mom. While we were there, we went to the indoor playground. It was a closed-in area for preschoolers. I sat among parents who watched their children crawl through and climb over the pint-sized obstacle course.
At one point I realized that I couldn’t see Caroline, so I stood and began walking toward the other end of the play area. I hadn’t taken two steps when I heard a child’s loud cry. Sure enough, it was Caroline. Another dad was holding her, scanning the play area to find the parent. I reached out and took her from him. “She stuck her head in one of the shoe cubbies and couldn’t get out,” he told me. “I don’t think she’s hurt but it scared her.”
I cradled the little redhead in my lap as she calmed down. “Did you get stuck?” I asked her.
“Uh-huh,” she sobbed. After another minute of tears and hugs, she went back to the playground, running with her previous abandon.
A few weeks later my brother told me that he took Caroline back to the same mall. She walked into the play area and directly over to the shoe cubbies. With her finger pointed at them, she said, “Stuck.”
We all get stuck sometimes. Sometimes we stay stuck for a very long time. We have deep hurts, disappointments and unfulfilled dreams. All of us can go back to specific times in the past when our heart was broken. We remember the places where those painful things were said and we were stopped, dead in our tracks. Thinking of them, we feel every emotion all over again.
God doesn’t want us to be stuck. He doesn’t want us hanging on to past hurts, letting them get in the way of the life He has for us, and the relationship He desires from us. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
We all must deal with our hurts, hang-ups and habits if we are to live in the grace God gives us. The Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippians to “work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12) He understood that even though we might have a saving faith in Christ, we must all work to renew our minds so that we can have an abundant life here on Earth. We must come face to face with our fears and see them in the light of the truth of God. Taking responsibility for our part and forgiving the hurt piled on us by others brings us freedom and joy in the presence of our Savior.
Dealing with past hurts may not mean we are able to forget them completely. But we should be able to come to a time when we can point to the places where we got stuck, then turn to run in the freedom of total acceptance in Christ.
God, Thank you for reaching out to me in my stuck places and offering me hope. Help me to be quick to turn to You and not stubbornly try to stay stuck. Thank you for Your mercy, Your grace and Your love. I pray that I would willingly, frequently, and generously share Your mercy, grace and love with others. Amen
Question: How would you help a friend who was stuck? What works and what does not?
Debbie West
Debbie West is a teacher, worship leader and aspiring fitness coach and writer living in North Texas. She has a passion to see others, especially women, overcome fear and the hurts of the past and live the abundant life God promises in His Word. She also loves vegetable gardening, and spending time with her friends and family, including her adorable niece and nephew, Caroline and J.D. Read her blog at http://westdebbie.wordpress.com/ and listen to her music athttp://www.debbiewestmusic.com.
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