STUCK IN THE MUD

Driving a car is a simple task as long as you continue to drive in familiar terrain. When the situation changes, the task becomes much more difficult. We have all had cars stuck in the mud or have seen someone in that predicament.

Experienced drivers know that to move a vehicle you press the accelerator pedal. While in ideal conditions this will make the car go forward, in the mud it becomes more challenging. I have witnessed countless amounts of people hit the accelerator with the same pressure or more while trying to get out of the mud. All this does is spin the tire and dig the car further down into the mud.

Many people's lives are just like a car that is stuck in the mud. The traditions, the lifestyle, and the routine seemed to lead to a happy life. Then one day, they wake up and realize they have been stuck in a rut. The things that kept things going forward for them were just holding them back. The more they try to free themselves by doing the same things, the more trapped they become.

It is time to break free.

When we disagree with people, we do not seek to understand. We seek to be right and to win an argument. When something bad happens, we choose to let our religious or political views become center stage. We begin to pass blame to people, even if they had nothing to do with the situation just because it may seem to strengthen our old arguments. We even use “facts” that are inaccurate because they looked good in a meme.

Freedom does not come from arguing. It does not come from doing the same things we have always done. It comes from stepping back and seeing what truly sets us free. Gaining a true understanding of the situation is a must.

Many people do not even read the scriptures. They rely on someone else to tell them what it says. Many times, the person they rely on may have misquoted it, misinterpreted it, or taken it out of context. None of that will set you free. We need to read the Bible for ourselves and meditate on what it says. Truly begin to understand what it says. Understand how to apply it to your life.

When you know the truth, it will set you free. Jesus did not come to judge you or hold you back. He came to save you because what we were doing was holding us back.

Hate, judgment, and the desire to be right keep us spinning our wheels in the mud and will never set us free. However, Jesus came to demonstrate sacrificial and selfless love. This type of love brings freedom. It is a love that does not have limitations. It is a love that welcomes those with whom you may even disagree.

When we begin to live our lives with the type of love that Jesus has for us, then we shall begin to experience the freedom that he wants us to have. No more spinning your wheels in life. Move on from that place, and move in love.

THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID

I do not know the reason. My wife believes my hearing is going bad. I believe she did not tell me what she wanted to tell me. She is so used to talking to the dog, I think she may tell him and think she told me. She may have told my son and thought she had told me, too. It cannot possibly be my fault. I may be getting a little older, but I am certain that I pay as much attention to what she says as when we were dating.

Whatever the reason is, I am currently hearing my wife tell me that she already told me something. If I heard what she said and repeated it back to her, she would tell me, “That is not what I said.”

I know we are not the only people where miscommunication is a daily part of life. People are always misunderstanding what others say or just not paying attention at all. The biggest problem does not even appear to be a lack of listening as much as it is hearing what you want to hear.

It is like your wife saying, “We need dinner, go to the store and buy some chicken.” Some people will hear that we need food tonight and bring ice cream home without the chicken. (Yes, I have witnessed an example of this.)

This week a politician gave a speech expressing her opinion. The speech was over eight hours long. Some heard this and thought this person must have been doing a great thing. I, on the other hand, heard that someone wasted eight hours of his or her life that no one listening will ever get back.

When I worked in retail and arrived at work, my bosses would tell me that a certain section may need a little extra help by saying, “There’s an opportunity.” All I heard was that customers had destroyed my area.

The interpretation changes the outlook.

The same thing goes with the Bible. We hear what we want to hear. People say the truth will set you free, but they leave out the part of knowing the truth. Truth cannot set you free unless you know what that truth is. Some people hear this and then begin to search for the truth. They forget to read the context of the verse that says if you hold onto the teaching of Jesus, you will know the truth.

Some people also hear that money is evil. However, the Bible does not say that. It says the love of money is the root of all evil. That is a completely different thought. It would not make sense for God to make certain people rich, like Isaac in Genesis 26:13, if money were evil.

These are just two instances but trust me when I say there are many more.

We need to put aside what we want to hear and begin to listen to what people say. Every argument has two sides, but there is only one version of the story that is correct. This is because we choose to filter out what we do not want to hear.  

Become a listener. Hear what people say, and they will not tell you, “That is not what I said.”