Have you ever been in the middle of a situation where you feel like there is no way out……like you are struggling to breathe……like the waves are crashing all around, and no matter what you do, how you react….you just know there is no way out of it? Life is full of so many variables, so many circumstances…..SO MANY PEOPLE!!!!! It’s hard enough to fight our way through our own drama sometimes….and then other people get involved. I received a late night text last night, and the reason they texted me was because they knew I could provide some positivity in a time that they needed it. And now I sit and laugh, because only a few months ago no one would have ever come to me for positivity….unless it was me being positively negative about something.
We all get stuck sometimes……stuck in the middle where we can’t figure out which side to take….if we choose this path, this person will be upset…..if we choose this path, I may lose a friendship from this person. And when you think about it….we may be in the middle of something impossible, but we are just the rock or hard place to someone else’s impossible situation.
So I was trying to think today of where in the Bible someone was stuck between one thing pushing on one side, and another imposing obstacle on the other….and there is no more clear example than the Israelites running from the Egyptians towards the Red Sea. After God had finally gotten Pharoah to see his side of the story, and the Israelites were set free…..Pharoah changed his might and started chasing them. Eventually the Israelites found themselves between a rock (the Egyptian Army) and a hard place (the Red Sea), with no escape route in site.
But guess what……when all seemed lost, when they thought they were all going to die….when they were questioning the God who set them free….God showed up. God made the way. When the Israelites wanted to go back to Egypt, Moses said, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent (Exodus 14:13-14.)”
I’m not saying you should ask God to make those “situations” to where you never see them again, but what I am saying is that when you can’t breathe anymore, and you don’t think you can stay in that spot, know that God has an escape route already planned out for you. You just have to have the faith that it is there.
I believe the key to getting out of these uncomfortable conflicts amongst our peers is to turn it over to God. We can’t control all those around us, we can’t make it all work out on our own. We must go to the Lord in prayer. Psalms is a whole book of prayers, songs, and poems of praise that David wrote. If Israel’s greatest king, one whom God chose, goes to God in prayer and praise, don’t you think we ought to as well.
Psalm 142 says, “I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before Him; When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see; for there is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; no one cares for my soul. I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison so that I may give thanks to Your name; The righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me.”
David definitely seems to be in a rut, but he cries out to the only one that can help. So I pray that when you are in that valley, between the two cliffs, and the boulders start to tumble down towards you, and you have nowhere else to turn…..turn to God. He can fix all. He will fix all. But He won’t do anything if you try to do it yourself. He is always waiting for you to reach out.
Tetelestai 