If you’re stuck, help’s on the way!
If you’re stuck, help’s on the way!
A few years ago I entered a Tough Mudder race. In the lead up, our kids were annoyed at my constant gee-up, self-talk, “Tough muddddderrrr”, made with a harsh guttural sound, like I was saying, tough mother!” After raising 4 children, with a 6 year age range, it’s one and the same isn’t it?
The big day arrived for the race, and my friend and I were focussed-had we trained enough? I look around at the other competitors; tutu wearing tough guys and overweight fairies allayed my fears. At least I wouldn’t come last!
At the start line, the guy on the microphone amps up the competitors with his motivational tough talk, “I do not whine – kids whine”, hehe, that’s one for all those parents out there! The pistol fires, and we race off, coming to our first pile of mud we tip toe through like prancing ponies, doing our best to avoid it! That was useless as an ejector seat on a helicopter-after only a few minutes into the race, we abandon all effort to dodge the mud, and embrace the squidgy feel between our toes.
Once we had committed, there was no going back, we were happy as a pig in a puddle!
One of the last obstacles was a mile of mud in trenches not wide enough to jump over. Thick as toothpaste, once you jumped in, there was no way to struggle out by yourself. I’d do a big jump and then yell for help! It took 2 guys with biceps the size of a small tree trunk to pull me out, I was stuck nice and snug! We must have weighed double our weight, with one inch of mud caking over our bodies. Chocolate covered humans. Afterwards, I talked to a crack army team who did it in record time-they created a human log by sacrificing a person, running over him, then dragging him out. Nice work team army!
One of the last obstacles was the electric shock, with wires hanging down like vines, I make a dash but got zapped and nec minute found myself kissing the dirt. Commando style crawling got me to the end, and the finish line was a much welcome sight. We washed under the cold showers, and had never felt cleaner!
Once we made that decision to get clean, we would rather walk 500 metres extra, than enter ankle-deep in a puddle of mud then get dirty again!
Life can be like that.
We can go through life and start doing wrong stuff, gradually getting dirty like mud, one little thing after another, then be so caught up we become entrapped and entangled by its snares. A wrong thought, a little lie, a bad act, a deceitful coverup; this downhill spiral if continued will form habits and establish a corrupt character.
“Plant a thought and reap a word;
plant a word and reap an action;
plant an action and reap a habit;
plant a habit and reap a character;
plant a character and reap a destiny.” Author Unknown
Doing wrong can be pleasurable for a time, but once you make that decision to stop, you will need help to get out, it’s like being stuck in the mud! If you’ve come to a point that you know you are doing wrong, and want to stop, God is already working in you! And the good news is, that He helps us to get out!
Yes, we all have stuffed up! Me, You, everyone. Well, now that’s out of the way, if you find that you are stuck in the mud, why not confess your stuff to a trusted friend and ask God to help you out? Just like I needed help to get out of the mud, we’ll need His help to get clean. It may be fun for a time being plastered with mud, but if we cling to our mud, it gets all through our stuff and makes a real mess of our lives! Not only that but it weighs us down, our walk is heavy carrying these burdens.
It’s a lighter, brighter walk with God when we’re not crusted over with mud.
