Stuck


 

As I walked through my neighborhood on this particular day, my eyes were drawn upward as I looked down the block. Something did not seem “right”. Something was going on in the tree tops down the way. Could it be some species of huge bird, out of place and lost on its long flight toward a winter home? I am always up for the unusual, so my mind raced with anticipation as I drew near.
The mystery was solved when I reached the house just before the one with these particular trees. There was no giant bird or other unusual creature. There was only the remnants of a party, snagged high in a tree. Someone’s “Happy Birthday” had gotten loose. Someone’s red balloons had been set free. Well, almost loose. Almost free. They were snagged as they were so close to their freedom. Now they will live on the edge of the sky.
Is there anything worse than feeling stuck? Is there anything as bad as being so close to where we want to be and then, at the last minute, being snagged by what we are working so hard to leave behind? Past experiences and memories. Old habits. Addictions. Choices and decisions that come back to haunt us again and again. We start to soar and can see the open sky, then are caught short once again.
The apostle captures this experience in these words, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” They knew what is was like to want to change, to work for change, and to commit to change, only to be snagged on their old life time and time again. We are not alone in this struggle. Sometimes the struggle in visible, we are tangled in the tree for all to see. At other times we may hide it well, but within we know the pain and sense of failure once again.
The good news is that even this struggle takes place within the circle of God’s grace. In the next line the Apostle writes, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Even when we are snagged on our past, God is with us. Even when we feel we will never quite get free, God is at work. Grace surrounds us. Grace holds us up. Grace will get us through.
Peace.

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