SURVIVAL MODE – SHAKE IT
OFF
He stepped
into the quicksand mud hole and sunk up to his neck. To free himself, he lifted
his knees up as far as he could and
crawled slowly with his arms and knees to the edge of the slime. Then he stood,
shook himself off, and took off all his clothes.
This TV story reminded
me of Jesus talking to his disciples: “Whosoever will not receive you, when ye
go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony
against them” (Luke 9:5). The disciples listened.
Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in what today is southern Turkey.
“And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
“But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised
persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts”
(Acts 13:49-50).
Then Paul and
Barnabas did what Jesus told them to do. They moved on.
When we let
something go, we have room for something else to replace it. Shaking off the
grit leaves an empty spot. The survivalist who crawled out of the quicksand barely made it out, and he had to expose himself. He got naked.
When we’re trapped in something, part of our
deliverance may include being exposed. If we’re leaving something, we may not be assured of what we are going to. We may turn
our backs to being overly involved with certain people or certain organizations,
and when we go, we sometimes don’t quite
know what to do.
We let other
people and groups give us our identity, and
without them,
we may not be entirely sure of who we are
or what we want. But Jesus knows who we are and when we’ve lost something, or
have just crawled out of the quicksand and are standing there naked—well that’s
the perfect time to turn to Him. He is more than willing to show us the way. I
love that verse in Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in
to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me.”
Sometimes I feel like we just stay
in the quicksand or we get out and then stand there naked, instead of just
going to the door and letting Jesus in to have a chit-chat over dinner and
figure out our next move.
Most of the
time we seem to stay in adverse
situations longer than we should. Some of the reasons could be: We honestly
don’t realize how bad they are. We know how bad they are, but we don’t want to acknowledge it. We are too
afraid or too tired to think about having to change. We don’t have much hope in
what’s ahead.
Or maybe we
want to leave but for some reason need to stay a while longer in the situation.
Often that’s the hardest position to be in, holding out till we actually reach the exit.
In the show
about the guy in the quicksand, he had to have the presence of mind just to
keep focused on what he needed to do—crawl slowly to the edge. He couldn’t
move too fast, or he would be sucked
down. So what do we do? We get discouraged or angry or fearful and stay put.
When we have to stay in the mud hole until the right time to get out, an
excellent way to stay healthy is to open that Revelation 3:20 door to the Lord every
day. We remember to ask that He shows us
something new, teach us something we can use, give us some way to bless someone
before we leave, things like that—things that keep our minds and hearts from
being bitter. Instead of
focusing entirely on the situation we’re in, we can focus on what He’s showing
us, without being a part of it.
I remember
when I was about a month away from moving back to the States from South Africa.
I worked at an insurance company doing some filing. Every day was drudgery. It
was horrible and was making me sick and weak. I didn’t need the money. So why
did I stay? Obligation? Loyalty? Habit? I have no idea, but when it was over, I
was kicking myself for not leaving sooner.
Paul and
Barnabas shook the dust off against the people that didn’t want them around, and
they went to the next town. That’s what Jesus taught them to do, and Jesus does know the best solutions for
every problem. The survivalist shook and scraped off the quicksand, put his
clothes back on and took off for the next adventure.
I have several
friends who have taken on new adventures over the past years, and I am so proud of them for having the
boldness to move on. I pray they open the door for the real Jesus to come in,
spend time with them and talk things over, then lead them in the next step of
their lives.
Everyone is
going to end up in some quicksand at one point or another. But we can trust in Jesus to see us naked, clean us
up, clothe us and lead us on. Let’s be courageous.
Love, Carolyn
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