Psalm 25:15: “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.”
Where are you stuck? Maybe it’s a place, relationship, job, mindset, habit or even a mood. I’ve found myself stuck in unwanted parenting habits or routines that leave us frustrated and worn. My marriage of 17 years gets stuck from time to time, and my husband and I do the hard work to clear a pathway forward. My relationship with God even can feel stuck and in need of some rebooting. The blank canvas of a new year is a good place to reevaluate those places where “stuck” best defines the position of your feet, mind and/or heart. Getting unstuck takes faith, courage and hard work, but the freedom to step out and move on is life giving.
“Mom, mom, mommmmm…,” she repeated.
“You sound like a broken record. Please come in here if you need to speak with me,” I threw back to her from the kitchen. My remark was futile, as an 8-year-old has no idea what a broken record is or does—but she’s in a phase where verbal stuckness is common, yet teachable. I quickly explained the gist of a broken record and suggested she come speak to me face-to-face when she needs me. She flashed a dimpled smile of momentary understanding and continued to state whatever it was she’d needed in the first place.
Whether our stuck places are fixed with gentle reminders or life altering decisions, they all require action on our parts. David, the famous Israelite king of the Old Testament, was a man of spiritual and physical action. He wrote about being stuck in Psalm 25:15: “My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.” Metaphorical nets in the psalms translate to real-life traps and troubles. We can draw practical tools from David’s faith in times of feeling stuck. First, David prays God’s promises of steadfast love and holy leadership in his life (see verses 8-14). Second, David confesses his own inability to save himself and God’s complete ability to rescue him from circumstance and sin (verses 16-22). Finally, David fixes his eyes on God even while his feet are trapped. We can be physically, emotionally or relationally stuck and have our eyes on God, believing he’ll bring rescue in His timing. Faith believes God can and will, even when we don’t know when or how.
If 2016 was riddled with instances of your feet being trapped in “nets,” make 2017 a year of active faith. He knows our stuck places and invites us to walk into his room and speak to him face-to-face.
Faith & Family writer Jena Meyerpeter wishes all the KCP readers a blessed and joyful 2017.