Down in a hole...

Ever been stuck? Stuck not struck... not like the song "Stuck on You" or General Honore's famous stuck on stupid... line in the midst of Hurricane Rita...the stuck i experienced was really sort of funny (in a weird and twisted way)...

Once upon a time i lived in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies and Spelunking or caving out in western Canada is big deal. There were several leaders in my youth ministry who did this and were quite accomplished. i being the dork that i was, agreed to give it a try.

So one sunny day we drove out to mountains, they were (as usual) simply gorgeous. Down we went down into the cave. Damp... cold and musty. I don't know how long we spent crawling through holes in complete darkness with very minimal light... but it seemed like forever. The openings in the rocks tended to be very, very small and honestly i was not. Several of these holes i managed to successfully crawl through on my stomach but several of them required crawling through on your back.

At one point i tried the crawl-on-your-back technique on a particular hole and got stuck.... in a hole, in the ground... in a hole!!!!

And folks... in that hole, it was completely dark especially on my side because i was the last one through! Everyone else was already on other side, seeing my lower torso in the light of multiple flashlights!

The things that run through your mind in a situation like that are pretty horrifying... i wondered if i would ever get free... i recall thinking at the time "great i'm gonna' be stuck here forever!". I also remember wondering how would i ever get unstuck?

Well, obviously it all worked out in the end... somehow in the end, things turned out much better than my overactive imagination allowed for. It took a little work and determination but i would venture to guess that many of you who are reading this, are maybe stuck too but in a different way.

Are you stuck...

• in a rough season in your marriage?
• with unresolved issues with siblings?
• in a pattern of addictive behaviors?
• with an anger that boils over at the slightest provocation?
• with resentments that you will not let go of?
• because someone let you down and forgiveness is not in your vocabulary?

You don't have to be stuck you know.... do like i did.... calm down, stop fighting with yourself and amazing freedom can be yours too.