Stuck? Reach out to God

Have you ever felt stuck? It’s a horrible feeling. You try everything and nothing seems to help.

A few years ago, I was still new to the area so I geared myself up for whatever North Idaho could throw at me; I bought myself a 4x4 vehicle (and then figured I was pretty much unstoppable). One evening as I was leaving a friend’s house, I tried to go around another vehicle but the car slowly slid into a snowbank in the driveway. I figured I would do the smart thing and hit the accelerator hard! “Yeah, that will do it!,” I thought. My idea didn’t work; it just made things worse and, of course, there was an audience watching me which made me feel pretty embarrassed.

Since I had gotten my self into this mess I decided I would try to get my self out, without anyone’s help. My friends cheered me on as I moved my vehicle forward and backward, digging myself deeper into the bank. They offered to help, but I waved them off. Finally, when I was tired of being stuck I reached out and asked for help. When I received help I was soon on my way home.

I share this story as an illustration of what happens so many times in our hearts. We think we are unstoppable and feel like we can handle anything on our own. Even worse, we think that if we get stuck its our own fault and so we shouldn’t ask for help. Life is a slippery slope and it doesn’t take much to find ourselves stuck and spinning our wheels.

This brings to mind an event that happened to Jesus and His disciples. Jesus was walking and two blind men started crying out to Him loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on us.” Blindness in those days meant either you or your parents had sinned and it was considered for your sins. But I love what these two guys did; they broke the silence and started to cry out for mercy! Jesus then answered by saying if they believed, He could heal them. They answered, “Yes Lord!” Jesus said, “according to your faith, let it be so” and they were healed.

When you are stuck you might wonder where is God? Should I get Him involved since its my problem, not His? Or you might ask God, “why don’t you care about what is happening to me?” I have struggled through these questions myself many times. No one starts a journey thinking they will get stuck; it’s not usually the plan. The beginning of a journey can be exciting and full of hope but storms do come and you find yourself stuck right in the middle. Looking back you can’t really remember how or why you got there. Looking ahead you can’t see where you are headed. Fear and unbelief come knocking on the door.

If this rings a bell I encourage you to remember that Jesus is very near. He does care, and you don’t have to be afraid. Instead, have faith that He can and will calm the storm in your heart. Sometimes all it takes is to reach out and ask for His help. We all go through it at one point in our lives or another. Don’t be discouraged my friend. Reach out to Him today and may the peace of the Lord be with you.

May the Lord bless you. Have a wonderful day, and remember that Jesus is very present in our time of need!

Pastor Wesley Ribeiro is pastor at Sandpoint Christian Center.