Out of the Mire

A few years ago, my son, Roscoe and I were out on an adventure on an overcast rainy day in fall. While we were out walking through a particularly muddy field his rubber boots became firmly stuck in mud that was the consistency of thick setting cement. It became quickly apparent that he was not going to move forward on his own and was going to need help. In order to get him out, it would necessitate me stepping back into the mud with him. The only way to release the suction hold that the mud had on his boots would require him to step out of his boots and get onto my back above the mud. Once this was done I could get my hands on his mud locked, much heavier, now useless boots in order to liberate them and carry them and him to the other side.  

Have you ever had a moment like this, where you got into mud or a puddle with footwear that you thought would be sufficient to get you through to the other side only to find that once in the mud that you became stuck? As you found yourself wrestling to try to dislodge your mud-shackled appendages it probably didn’t take you long to come to the awareness that the boots that you got into that mess may not be the footwear that you walk out with shortly. These boots might just get left in the mud.

In seasons where you find yourself stuck you may come to the point where you realize that what you’re doing isn’t working. Perhaps you will need to get out of the “boots” that you are in, invite someone to support you, or even be willing to step out into the mud and leave those boots behind. If you have been doing the same thing hoping for different results it’s time to make a change.  

The other day someone was describing a season like this to me. They were talking about how the last season had been challenging and had led them to a place where they felt as though they were having trouble moving beyond their current circumstances and into the next season well. It was like they were stuck, able to see where they were going but unable to get there with their current tools and resources. This can be a very discouraging place to find yourself. You might be thinking to yourself: this is me! I’m in a hard season, and I don’t know how to move forward. Here is some encouragement for you today:

What if the boots that you got into the mud are not the same that you will emerge with in this new season? What if instead of those boots, you come out of the mud wearing something more fitting, useful and even more beautiful.  

You need to hear that although you are stuck, you do not need to remain that way. 

However, it will come with a change of some nature, and change can be hard.

Getting your boots stuck in the mud is a metaphor that resonates with many people from many walks of life right now. This past season has presented many challenges, limitations and circumstances that have pushed the limitations of our skillsets and best preparedness, giving us many opportunities to get stuck.

What is different about today, is that although many people feel as though they previously had tools to get unstuck, they are unable to get themselves unstuck with those same tools and continue on the way they were.   

What if that is the very point?

What if we are not supposed to go back to the way things were?

What if the boots that got us into the mud will not be the same that we will emerge with on the other side? What if the point is that it is time for a change, time to move forward different, better, unstuck, and unhindered?  

What if the next season is going to require a whole different type of footwear in order to be who you are meant to be?

What if we are intended to come out different than when we went in?

There are two primary character pathways upon which we can emerge from the mud: either we are weaker, depleted, discouraged, and messy, OR we can come out of the mud having grown, become more nimble, less encumbered, stronger, and more ready for the next season.  

Once we accept the reality of being stuck, we need to ask some intentional diagnostic questions to figure out where and how we got stuck, and then establish a course of action to get unstuck and move forward again.  

Why am I stuck? Great question, right? This might seem unhelpful until you realize that the answer is absolutely necessary in establishing a way to more forward. To establish this you may want to ask a question like this…

• What led me to this point or season where I feel stuck?

  • Discerning this can speak to the “how” and “what” of getting out.

• Why do I feel like where I am at is a place that I cannot move beyond?

  • Where did I hear that I couldn’t move forward? What circumstances right now are limiting me moving forward?

What is keeping me stuck here? Is it my circumstances? My limiting mindsets? Resources? People? Me? What do I need to work on and develop in myself in order to be ready to be the kind of person that is required for the next season? Establishing the what can help me to begin to figure out what I need to do to get unstuck. 

What am I hoping for? Do you have a vision for what life can look like when you are unstuck? This can be a critical motivator in choosing to move forward.  Our hopes often speak to our outcomes. Do I want to get unstuck? If you want to be unstuck, you will do what it takes to get there even if it is uncomfortable. One of the challenges to moving forward may be that you are comfortable where you are at and not sure that you want to get unstuck at the moment. That’s okay. That is where you are at, and you can likely live there for some time. If you want to move forward though, it will come at the cost of your comfort. It will demand a bigger vision for your life, a hopeful desire for freedom and a better way.   

A great way to inspire hope in this area is to a twofold approach:

1) Invite Jesus into your day and ask him to help you to do this season well. Give him space to work in you in this season to make you ready for the next season. As we give him the space and look to him for our hope and salvation we are more apt to watch for the opportunities, paths and means that he might be providing to help us get unstuck.

In the Bible in the book of Psalms we find King David a man who has everything, but at times would find himself in challenging circumstances, sometimes his own doing and sometimes the doing of others. I am sure to say that he felt stuck at times would have been an understatement. In one of these moments we read a part of a song that he wrote describing where he finds himself.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” (Psalm 40:1-2)

David gives a great example of what to do when we are unsure what to do, and he invites the Lord’s help and aid. When he cried out, the Lord lifted him out of the mud and mire, and set his feet on firm ground. Firm ground…that sounds good when we feel deep in the mud.

When we look to ourselves for help we quickly recognize that we can only do so much before we need to look for outside intervention.

2) Take time to imagine what the future could look like when you are not stuck. What will you be doing, or be able to do differently, if you are not limited in this area? This can be a very inspirational and can help to motivate you to do what it takes to move forward. Try it.  

What do I need to do to get unstuck? What got you here certainly will not get you to where you want to be. If “where you want to be” is the feeling and experience of being unstuck and unhindered then you will likely need to do something different or be somehow different. It may mean being willing to ask for help. It may mean being equipped differently. It may require reorientation and realignment with a way of living or thinking that has been departed from along the way. It might mean that you need to break agreements with a limiting mindset that says, “I can’t or I won’t be able to,” or even, “that’s good for them but not for me.” It will require change. Change can be hard, but where you are might be hard too. When you discover where you are stuck this will help you to begin to formulate a plan for what you will need to be willing to do to get unstuck.

If you are not sure what to do, a great place to start is to go to the one who knows you the best. Pray. Ask God a question. Ask him for the insight, wisdom or direction. Ask him for help if you need or want to grow and change. Ask him where you are stuck and what needs to happen in order to get unstuck. You might be surprised where he leads and what he shows you is a part of the journey forward. He is God after all, and he knows stuff!  

Am I willing to do what it takes to get unstuck? In order to move forward in our journeys it will always take some kind of action. I know that sounds simplistic… but it is true. Movement is the goal. Movement forward in the right direction and with the right spirit is key.

As much as we may want to change on our own, there comes a point where we can’t do it on our own. You may need to invite outside help, the support of a friend, counsellor or someone you trust. You may need a hand to pull you out. Find the person who can help with the necessary tools to get out. If it is spiritual in nature, there is only One who can truly help you get unstuck. God knows you and knows who you can become. He loves you where you are, but is not satisfied to leave you there, he wants you to become like Jesus. He has been in difficult places, but never has, and never will be stuck. He is both free, and the freeing One, and He can help if you will reach out to Him. When Jesus helps, he can pull you out, and he will always leave you better than before, better equipped, better for it, and better ready to enter the next season with him. He loves to trade up and will exchange your muddy boots for something more beautiful and properly fitting for the season ahead.

Regardless of how you get unstuck it will require that you take a step.

There were times when I was younger that I can remember getting stuck in the mud and realizing that the only way that I was getting out was if I was willing to make a choice to get out regardless of the cost. I had to step out of my boots and be willing to get dirty to get out of the mud. If I did not make that choice, I was not going to get anywhere. I had to be willing to leave the boots behind in order to move forward. What I brought into the mud was not going to be what I emerged with. 

Is it time to step out of your boots and emerge?

What if getting out of your boots could give you an opportunity to emerge different, new and even better than before?  

Maybe it’s time to extricate yourself from your boots in the mud and mire, leave them there and emerge unencumbered and free to step into a new season.  

If you are interested in talking about where you are stuck right now and what it might look like to get unstuck and moving forward again we would love to meet with you. Click here to email us to start a conversation.