A Saturating Thought for the Day!

Think with me back to an old back-and-white television movie. Are you with me? Hear the bang bang of the guns? The bad guy jumps onto his horse and rides out of town with the good guy on his tail, shooting as he goes. Can you see it? Because good guys ALWAYS win, thank goodness quicksand just happens to be in the bad guy's path. He turns around to take some shots at the good guy and the horse stops suddenly and the bad guy flips off and lands into the puddle.

He flails around, begging for help. We all know that the end is near. What should the good guy do? Of course, the good guy looks at him, makes him squirm, and then helps him out. He binds him to his horse and off they go, back to into the town where he will get a joyous welcome. The bad guy is saved from a horrendous death from drowning in quicksand only to be found hanging from a tree at dusk.

Ah, there is just nothing like an old back-and-white movie to get your spirit stirred!

Okay now -- when I was in summer school with a bunch of soon-to-be fifth graders -- I learned something really important. Want to hear it?

I learned these very important facts about quicksand:

• quicksand is only a few feet deep, not a bottomless pit like we are led to believe from those old movies;)
• quicksand is just oversaturated sand, that's it, nothing more
• people can float in quicksand

I am so sorry to ruin every old western you will ever see again. So if you happen to find yourself in a puddle of quicksand, here is what you do. Well, you never know. Don't laugh:)

• Relax. Don't panic. It is possible to drown in it if you panic. Don't flail around. Be calm.
• Pray.
• Try to float on your back.
• If floating doesn't work, make slow, easy steps out of the puddle. Take it s-l-o-w.
• Paddle calmly until you get to the edge.
• Free yourself from the wet sand.

Now you know what to do if you get in quicksand. Quit laughing, you never know when that knowledge will come in handy! The thing to remember is that it is only a few feet deep. That's it.
Its just like when we run into problems in our lives, isn't it? We fall hard. We begin to flail around. We fight God. We think there is no way out. We believe all is lost. The truth is exactly the opposite. When we settle down, we soon realize that hope is still there. We always have hope when we have a relationship with our Lord.

If you're flailing around in quicksand now, I'm not trivializing your predicament. No way. I've been there. In fact, I'm still there but right now, I'm floating on my back. I'm not out of it yet, not yet but floating is good. Tomorrow or maybe even five minutes from now, I might be trudging through the thick wet sand again. A week from now or maybe even a day from now, I might be feeling that I am drowning again BUT I know that I won't. God is my life-preserver. No matter what my situation looks like, I know KNOW that He is in charge. He knows the outcome. He is with me. I KNOW THIS WITHOUT A DOUBT but sometimes I do forget.

Let's keep reminding each other that the quicksand isn't forever deep, its just a few feet. Okay? I need that reminder, many times throughout the day.

8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles
are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:8,9&16-18 NIV)

Whether you are floating or trudging, know that God is your ever-present help in times of trouble. Watch for the good guy riding in on the white horse!