Mud and Mire

The other day as I was thinking about the task to which God has called me I was struck with how emotionally draining it is. And I wondered why this was. But then I realized that what I do is go from room to room and hear one painful story after another. Yet, I don't just hear the story -- I enter in and walk alongside -- along the bumpy road.

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As I was reflecting on why walking along the bumpy road is so emotionally draining I came to the realization that the bumpy road is rarely neat and clean. Instead, it is usually covered with mud. And when we walk on or even alongside of muddy roads, it takes a lot of energy. So the question is, from where do we get our strength to keep walking? The other day I was amazed by how God answered this question for me.

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Lately, I have been doing some reading in the book of Hebrews. The other day while I was reading, I found this in chapter 10:

"Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and
offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt
offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it
is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’
""(Hebrews 10:5-7, NIV)

As I was reading I saw that this is a quote of an Old Testament scripture passage. The footnotes in my Bible directed me to Psalm 40. So I turned there and this is what I found in the opening verses of Psalm 40:

"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, NIV)

It was the words "out of the mud and mire" that struck me most. These words vividly describe the bumpy road -- full of mud and mire. I talk to people every day that are walking in mud and mire. I pray simple prayers for them, that God will lift them out, set their feet on a rock, and give them a firm place to stand. I also pray this prayer for myself.

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The rock that we have on which to stand is God himself. The psalmist here is recalling a past event in which he was walking the bumpy, muddy road. And he recalls God's faithfulness. God was faithful to lift him out. God was faithful to set his feet upon a rock. God was faithful to give him a firm place on which to stand.

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This same God is still faithful today. When we are on the bumpy road we can cry out to him and he will hear us. Or even if we are just walking alongside the bumpy road and we are emotionally drained, I know firsthand that we can cry out to God and he will hear us.