Mama, Stuck!

By Becky Tidbert

“Mama, Stuck!”

I didn’t know quite what to expect when my two-year-old toddled around the corner after making this proclamation. I chuckled when he walked into the room, his right index finger held aloft and firmly stuck inside a small toy. No crying, no complaining, just a simple statement and a silent appeal for help.

I scooped him up onto the kitchen counter and verified that he was indeed soundly stuck. Using the ever-proven remedy I worked a little butter into the hole and eased his pudgy finger out. Once free, he flexed the offending digit several times and threw his arms out to me with one command, “Down!” I complied and my son toddled off to new adventures.

As I put the butter back in the fridge and stowed the offending toy in a drawer I thought of what a great example of trust my son had just lived out for me. He came directly to me for help and sat silently while I fixed his problem. When I find myself “stuck” in a situation of my own making I tug, I pull, I cry and I fight trying to get myself out long before I run to my heavenly Father for help. By the time I reach out to him I am bruised, frustrated and more firmly stuck than I was in the first place. Like quicksand our mistakes suck us deeper and the more we struggle the deeper we sink. Instead, we need to put our trust in our Lord and let him free us. Romans 9:33 says: “The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” We may slip out the other side more humble, more ready to listen to him but unashamed of letting the creator of the universe solve our problems in his timing.

My son has always been a constant jabber jaw and the fact that he remained silent throughout his entire ordeal stunned me. By the time I reach out to my Lord I feel that I should be able to tell him exactly what he should do to fix what I have broken. Since I couldn’t free myself, I should at least be able to tell God how to fix it, right? Wrong. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Lean not on my own understanding. That’s why I got stuck in the first place isn’t it? Leaning on my own understanding? Thinking I knew best? Thinking I knew better than the one who spoke the world into being, formed man from the dust of the earth and died on a cross to save me from my sin. The next time I walk my own way and find myself mired in the despair of my mistakes I hope I will remember to reach out to him, trust him to supply the solution, hold up my finger and say, “Daddy, I’m stuck.”

Becky Tidberg writes from Neillsville, Wisconsin. campfireministries@yahoo.com