Out of the Mud.

Did you ever play in the Mud? I used to love to play in the mud. My mom hated it, but I loved it. Mud was fun. It was slippery, wet and it got you dirty. What a great combination. Then there came a time, when I realized mud wasn't much fun. It got me dirty and slimy and wet and whats worse is you can get stuck and I mean really stuck in the mud. Now I am not talking about stuck in the mud in a car (which is bad). I mean stuck in the mud at your feet.

Have you ever been stuck in the mud by your feet? It is a strange feeling. There you are playing and having fun and all of the sudden you feel a suction on your foot and you try to move it and get it out and all of the sudden you feel that foot sink deeper and your other foot begins to feel that suction. Before you know it, you're stuck. You can't move and the more you wiggle the "stucker" you get. All you can do is cry for help and hopefully someone hears. That is when mud stopped being fun for me.

The Bible tells us that a life outside of Christ is a life lived in the mud. It is fun for a while. But then something happens to that "fun" mud. We get stuck and before we know it we are in up to our nose in mud.

As I think about mud Psalm 40:1-3 comes to mind. Listen to what it says: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth--praise to our God..."

Here we are, all stuck in the mud and some of us have realized we are stuck (and some haven't) and we cry out hoping someone will hear us. The Bible says, God heard. He "inclined" to us. That word "inclined" can mean a few things, but primarily it means to stretch out toward something or to bend down to something. So God heard my cry and He bent down toward me and He didn't bend down to ridicule me for being stuck but this Psalm tells us why He bent down. He bent down to bring me out of the mud and set my feet on firm ground and not just set me down on firm ground but He establishes our steps. That means as it says in Proverbs 3: 5 He directs our path.

Mud used to be fun, but I realized that mud is sticky. I was stuck! But Thank YOU GOD, I realized I was stuck and called out for help and HE heard me and bent down and pulled me up and set me straight.

How about you. Have you realized your stuck in the mud? And if you know your stuck have you realized that you need help getting out. My advice to you is just cry out and He will hear you and pull you out and set you straight.

What a Great God we serve!


Pastor Chad