I Feel Stuck; God Can Change It!

October 31, 2024

I Feel Stuck; God Can Change It!

My boss said, “Not yet.”  I had inquired about a job transfer but was told to wait one year. 

The good news was everything was fine where I was working.  We were living not far from my side of the family, we were close to Lincoln where I grew up, and my wife and I had just completed our graduate degrees.  And yet, I felt stuck.

To be clear, I loved the people.  At the same time, I was convinced there was so much more that Jesus had in store for me in ministry.  After settling in for another year, someone in the church asked; “Is there anything we can do to make the sanctuary warm enough to use in the winter months?” 

Finances were very tight in the church so I was not sure.  I knew that for three or four months of the year, the furnace would not adequately heat the sanctuary.  That meant worship was moved to the fellowship hall in the basement during the winter months. 

During the next several months, I worked with the people to install a new furnace and duct work to heat the sanctuary.  We also installed plexiglass storm windows on the outside of the large stained glass windows in the sanctuary.  This project saved a lot of money by preventing so much cold air from coming through the windows.

When the project was completed, the morale of the church sky-rocketed.  The hopefulness of the people increased even more when during the winter months we did not have to move worship to the basement.  If I would have received the job transfer I requested, those things would likely never have happened. 

I remember my joy and pride in watching the people of the church accomplish what they never thought possible.  I thought I was stuck when instead God wanted to use me where I was to change some things.

I feel stuck; God can change it!

Sometimes I feel trapped.  Sometimes I feel jammed up and unable to move forward.  Sometimes I feel entangled or ensnared.  Sometimes I feel stuck with no way to move forward.  Others have felt the same way.

Jeremiah was a preacher trying to encourage the Israelite people in a time when they had been taken captive and relocated to the country of Babylon (modern day Iran).  The Israelites had been refugees there for 70 years. 

Their faith in God, their hope for the future, and their morale were decreasing rapidly.  It was a difficult and desperate time because they felt stuck with no way to move forward.  Jeremiah shares the Word of the Lord for them. 

In Jeremiah 29:12-14 we hear; “Then when you call upon me (the Lord God) and come and pray to me, I will hear you.  When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

The Word of God for those who feel stuck or trapped or jammed up is filled with four promises.

First, the Lord hears your prayers.

Even when you feel stuck, the Lord hears your prayers.  The Lord is paying attention to what is going on with you, especially when you feel stuck.  But, there is more; the Lord understands what it is like to feel stuck. 

Jesus returns to His hometown to preach and teach and worship and heal.  However, Jesus is not accepted in the town where He grew up.  Jesus was jammed up, Jesus was stuck, Jesus was caught up in expectations that did not match who He was and the message He was sharing. 

Jesus hears and understands the prayers of those who are stuck.

Second, the Lord will reveal Himself to those who seek Him.

When you feel stuck for a long season of your life, you can begin to feel helpless and hopeless as well as distant from the Lord God. 

The Lord tells the Israelite people that even when they feel stuck in Babylon, if they want to draw near to the Lord God, He will make Himself accessible to them.  Jesus is near and will let Himself be found by those who seek Him…even those who feel stuck right now.

Third, the Lord will restore what you have lost.

When you are stuck, you often feel like you have already lost some things or some people or some opportunities that are important to you.  You are also afraid that you are about to lose even more of these important things and relationships. 

The Lord tells the Israelite people that whatever they have lost and whatever they fear they will lose, will be restored if they remain faithful in Babylon. 

I felt stuck during that last year in that small community.  I was afraid I was going to lose even greater opportunities to serve Jesus.  And yet, the Lord showed me that He would provide opportunities to serve Jesus in great ways right there in the place I thought I was stuck.  Jesus will do the same for you if you are open to some different ways of seeing those opportunities.

Fourth, the Lord will bring you back to a healthy and holy place.

After 70 years in refugee camps in Babylon, the Lord brings the Israelite people back to their home country of Israel.  In other words, the Lord brings the people back to a healthy and holy place.  They are brought back home and they are brought back to a holy place (the location of the Temple).

However, their homes, their city, and the Temple were in ruins.  In other words, their healthy and holy place did not look the same as it was before.  However, these places would become something even greater than their memory of what they were before or their dream of what they could be in the future.

I am not sure what that healthy and holy place may look like for you.  But, I am certain the Lord is even right now while you feel stuck and jammed up and trapped preparing to bring you to a healthy and holy place.

We have all felt stuck or trapped or jammed up at one time or another.  The bad news is sometimes that happens to God’s people.  In contrast, the good news is when God’s people feel stuck, God can change things. 

The Lord makes four promises to those who are stuck.  When you trust God’s promises will be fulfilled in your life, delight in what Jesus is about to do in and through you will grow and grow. 

If you feel stuck today, I encourage you to remember and recite the four promises I shared here.  Fill your prayer times and worship times with these promises until you begin to see the fruit of God’s faithfulness and love for you.      

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug