Stuck?

What do you think of when your hear the word “stuck”? Perhaps your car has been stuck in snow this winter. Or maybe like me, you’ve been stuck in sand with your car!

I think about the Israelites who were stuck in the wilderness even though it was of their own doing due to disobedience and lack of faith in God’s provision. Maybe this is just where you are in life. Not where you used to be but not where you want to be? Ever feel like that? 

Perhaps you feel like you are in a foggy valley and surrounded by mountains on all sides with no way out. I know I have.

A number of years ago I felt stuck in a season of ministry that was no longer fun. I felt nothing was being accomplished and nothing felt right anymore. Up to that point, vocational ministry had always been an unexpected gift. One I couldn’t believe I GOT to do. I was more than blessed to get to serve women through ministry. It had always been fun and I couldn’t wait to get to work though I hated my 4:50 a.m. alarm!

Then this season hit. I felt it was time time to leave and even prepared for it, but God never let me resign. Instead He took me through a long season of questions and prayers. In fact my daily prayer was “stay or go? and if go, where???” I truly wanted to obey whatever God told me but my focus was on an answer and not on my relationship with Christ. One day as I was praying, I sensed God saying that very thing to me. I was shamed and began to refocus on knowing Him better each day. In fact my prayer became, “let me love you more tonight than I do this morning, obey you more fully and love you more deeply than I ever have.”

The stuck season continued for a year or more but my walk with Christ was worth every step of the wait. So let me challenge you to stay the course if you are stuck and do not change that course unless you have His permission. I would’ve have missed some of the best and most effective ministry days if I’d left when I “felt” like it!

Watch for open or shut doors, ask for prayer and even wise counsel of others in this journey you are on. See what God’s Word says to you as you read daily and seek to know Him better in this season.

Check out this blog post I recently read by Kristina Sabestinas from Christine Caine’s Propel ministry: Stuck in the Middle. Kristina makes some encouraging, practical points to help if you are stuck.

Use this season to see God and His work in your life in a new, fresh and deeper way. It’s one of the best (and hardest) seasons of ministry I’ve ever had. And I do love Him more now than ever before.

Banner photo by Aubrey Odom on Unsplash