Life is a lot of things, but stagnant it isn’t. All the pieces of life’s puzzle have fallen into place. Happy laughter is the music of the day. But, in a matter of hours, catastrophic glacial flooding could arrive, burying lives in copious amounts of mud, like the poor souls in Sitka, Alaska. Or, it could be something as commonplace as losing your spouse of 32 years. When that mud comes, it may be too deep to navigate, bringing with it confusion, denial, anger, and regret.
Slow down for just a minute, and you can become stuck in life’s mud. It’s a human condition that hits everyone at one time or another. At those times, it’s helpful to remember the following Bible verse.
The dancing time is lovely, the laughing time divine. But that weeping, mourning, stuck-in-the-mud time? Not so much. That’s the season we pray will pass faster than a Friday afternoon root canal at the dentist. Unfortunately, it’s up to us to free ourselves from the mud of the situation.
Muddy seasons are part of life, and everyone gets stuck from time to time. Whether it’s grief, loss, regret, or just the slow, sneaky weight of daily discouragement, sometimes we find ourselves sinking, spinning our wheels, and not going anywhere. It’s possible to become emotionally, spiritually, and physically stuck.
If you’re like most, the first instinct is to curse the mud. Be careful because negative thinking is quicksand. You start with one gloomy thought, like, “I’ll never get out of this”, and before you know it, you’re building a mental house in the swamp, complete with matching curtains made of cynicism and regret. Not helpful at all.
The longer the negative thinking sticks around, the heavier the mud gets. Stuckness becomes becomes your label, story, atmosphere, and identity. The only thing that remains is more mud. Not solutions, healing, or hope. The heavier your heart, the harder it becomes to get out.
While stuck, the worst thing of all is that life goes on. Don’t you dare let it carry on without you. There are those things we’d all like to forget for a bit. Bills and chores will always be there, no matter how low we get. But, right outside your door, the seasons are changing. New babies are born. People are falling in love, starting new jobs, or even learning to salsa. Don’t let life get ahead of you while the mud holds you back.
After the rain stops, the mud WILL dry up and that heavy, stuck feeling will lift. Shake off that sludge and keep moving forward, one foot at a time.
Call a friend.
Go for a walk.
Talk to God (He’s fluent in muddy prayers).
Refuse one negative thought today, and trade it for a positive.
Bit by bit, step by mucky step, you’ll find your way out
If you’re stuck today, you’re not broken, just human. There’s a time for everything under heaven. But there’s also a time to get up, wash off the mud, and rejoin the dance floor of life, awkward moves and all.
Life hasn’t forgotten you. Just don’t let it leave without you.
More tomorrow.