When I was a kid, before I crawled under the covers at night, I always hung my head over the edge of the bed and checked for monsters underneath. Maybe that’s what I was remembering the other night, when I was awakened by a strange scratching noise. Tich tich tich. And it was coming from under the bed.
I shook myself awake and, because I’m a little braver now, got out to see what was causing the ruckus.
That’s when I found two golden legs, a tail and a tail-end squirming around on the floor. The rest of my golden retriever, Ike, was stuck under the bed.
I had to flatten myself in the narrow space between the bed and the wall, reach waaaaaay under the bed and grasp Ike’s front legs, and pull. Then, in a combination of pushing him down flat on his side, and working the front legs, then the back legs, I was able to maneuver him out safely.
How did he end up under the bed? How did he get stuck?
Ike’s not the first dog, or person, to get stuck.
Sometimes we find ourselves caught in an uncomfortable place. We try to work our way out, but often that only gets us wedged firmer.
Only by relaxing and not panicking are we able to accept the help that comes our way.
Sometimes that help is in the form of words of wisdom, encouragement and heartfelt prayers. Other times it’s an actual hand that reaches down and pulls us out of the depths, out of the sticky situation or, as in the case with Ike, the tight spot that we’ve managed to get ourselves into.
God is like that in our lives. He is always there to get us out of trouble. There is no situation so desperate that God can’t reach down and help us out.
