What do a mud-bound car, a quicksand hobbled deer, and a web-tangled fly have in common?  They’re all stuck!  And what do many, many people- Christ-followers included- have in common with one another?  Many of them are stuck, too.  Maybe not as visibly as the deer, car, or fly, but they are truly stuck- their forward momentum has come to a standstill.

The sources of our “stuck-ness” vary widely- unresolved issues from our past, broken relationships that have a deep hold, pain or trauma that we haven’t been able to work through or release.  Some are stuck spiritually: we come to the same place of great intentions but no follow-through again and again, or perhaps it’s a destructive habit or pattern that we can’t seem to break.  For so many folks there’s an internal message stuck on repeat, “This is as good as it’s going to get.  You can’t ________.  You just don’t have what it takes.”

Pete Scazzero refers to this phenomenon as “the wall”- a barrier we keep crashing into but don’t seem to get over or around.  We’ve got to go through it.  And sadly, perhaps sadder than any trauma or loss we’ve experienced, many folks have simply accepted defeat.  Resignation has replaced resolve, hopelessness has overtaken determination.  Or maybe we’ve decided that it’s just too hard, too costly, or too painful.  It’s simpler to let the stuck-ness stay.

But listen again- with your heart- to the words of Jesus, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  Read it again.  Once more.  Freedom is not just wishful thinking or for the sweet bye-and-bye.  It is our birthright as members of Jesus’ family.  He paid the price to make it available, so why wouldn’t we want to live in it?  Maybe we’ve just gotten too used to being stuck, or perhaps we haven’t been willing to do that hard work of that leg of our journey.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Freedom isn’t just a word or wishful thinking- it’s available.

So here’s my question: when you’ve been stuck, what has helped you to break free?