BBD 01.14.05 Stuck in a Rut

#1 · January 14, 2005, 2:47 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on January 14, 2005, 2:47 pm
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 13,000 Subscribers in 75 Countries)

01.14.05

Stuck in a Rut

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a
great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road
begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him
to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on
me!" So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called
the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you."
And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered
and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to
Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus said to him, "Go
your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus on the road. - Mark 10:46-52.

In order to refocus our lives and put first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness (Matthew 6:33) it is very likely that we will have to do
something before we can do that. What is it that we have to do? We have to
get out of the rut we’ve been living in.

While I was driving a school bus after a heavy rain, taking kids home on the
red clay roads where I grew up I slid off into a ditch. You might think that
would have stopped me - well, the bus was leaning a little (okay, quite a
bit!) but the surprising thing was I could still move forward, I just couldn’t
get out of that ditch. Finally, after I had driven about a half a mile I
reached a point where I was able to get the bus out of the ditch and back up
on the road. I could have just stayed in the ditch but I kept trying the
whole way to turn the bus until it did eventually happen. What a relief!

I recently talked to one of the guys (student then) who was on the bus when
we were stuck in the ditch. Guess what? He still remembered it. Thinking
about - it would probably be kind of hard to forget!

Life has a tendency to get us into a rut (or a ditch) and we think that this
is the way it will always be and there is nothing we can do to change it.
Because it does not appear that we can get out we don’t even try to get out.
We just give up and think that this is the way it was meant to be.
Certainly, Bartimaeus should have felt that way about his blindness. How
could something like being blind ever be changed? It was unheard of!

Bartimaeus did exactly what was needed to get out of his rut of blindness.
He sought the One who had the power to do something about His situation.
Only God could change him, could heal him, and Bartimaeus knew it.
Bartimaeus reached out even when those around him were telling him that it
was hopeless, that it was impossible, that he should not even try.
Bartimaeus cried out for Jesus to help him anyway and his entire life was
changed forever.

It may be that you are in the same old rut you have been in for most of your
life. You do not want to be there but you’ve stopped trying to get out
because it appears impossible. But have you ever really spent the time in
prayer to know whether your rut is the will of God? Have you ever fasted and
prayed for a week or so asking God what His will is and if it is His will to
get you out of your rut? Isn’t it time to do so? Remember Matthew 7:7-8 is
still in the Bible and if we do not ask we will not receive. If we do not
seek, we will never find and if we don’t knock, the door will never open.

Get out of the rut! Ask for help from the One who can do something about it.

Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
www.christianpost.com.

If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free
links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the
bottom of the front page www.theburningbush.org.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org

Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at:
www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical
ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to
interclife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. A closely related website is
Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need
peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

Please sign the GuestMap at The Burning Bush website. You can plant your
country's flag on the map and leave a message. You can find it on the front
page at http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush Devotional

(Over 13,000 Subscribers in 75 Countries)

01.14.05

Stuck in a Rut

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a
great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road
begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry
out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him
to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on
me!" So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called
the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you."
And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered
and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to
Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus said to him, "Go
your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus on the road. - Mark 10:46-52.

In order to refocus our lives and put first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness (Matthew 6:33) it is very likely that we will have to do
something before we can do that. What is it that we have to do? We have to
get out of the rut we’ve been living in.

While I was driving a school bus after a heavy rain, taking kids home on the
red clay roads where I grew up I slid off into a ditch. You might think that
would have stopped me - well, the bus was leaning a little (okay, quite a
bit!) but the surprising thing was I could still move forward, I just couldn’t
get out of that ditch. Finally, after I had driven about a half a mile I
reached a point where I was able to get the bus out of the ditch and back up
on the road. I could have just stayed in the ditch but I kept trying the
whole way to turn the bus until it did eventually happen. What a relief!

I recently talked to one of the guys (student then) who was on the bus when
we were stuck in the ditch. Guess what? He still remembered it. Thinking
about - it would probably be kind of hard to forget!

Life has a tendency to get us into a rut (or a ditch) and we think that this
is the way it will always be and there is nothing we can do to change it.
Because it does not appear that we can get out we don’t even try to get out.
We just give up and think that this is the way it was meant to be.
Certainly, Bartimaeus should have felt that way about his blindness. How
could something like being blind ever be changed? It was unheard of!

Bartimaeus did exactly what was needed to get out of his rut of blindness.
He sought the One who had the power to do something about His situation.
Only God could change him, could heal him, and Bartimaeus knew it.
Bartimaeus reached out even when those around him were telling him that it
was hopeless, that it was impossible, that he should not even try.
Bartimaeus cried out for Jesus to help him anyway and his entire life was
changed forever.

It may be that you are in the same old rut you have been in for most of your
life. You do not want to be there but you’ve stopped trying to get out
because it appears impossible. But have you ever really spent the time in
prayer to know whether your rut is the will of God? Have you ever fasted and
prayed for a week or so asking God what His will is and if it is His will to
get you out of your rut? Isn’t it time to do so? Remember Matthew 7:7-8 is
still in the Bible and if we do not ask we will not receive. If we do not
seek, we will never find and if we don’t knock, the door will never open.

Get out of the rut! Ask for help from the One who can do something about it.

Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.

The Crossmap Christian Search and Portal is a wonderful resource. I would
like to encourage you to visit this great site at http://www.crossmap.com. Crossmap
has recently added the Burning Bush Devotionals to their site. You may visit
Crossmap’s sister website, the online version of the Christian Post at
http://www.christianpost.com.

If you have a Christian website you are invited to add the link to my free
links at the Burning Bush website. The Bravenet free links is near the
bottom of the front page http://www.theburningbush.org.

If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org

Streaming Videos of our services including my sermons are posted at:
http://www.theburningbush.org/fbcswvideo.html

There is now a webpage available at associate.com where the devotionals are
archived associate.com/groups/burningbushdevo. There is a complete
archive at the Burning Bush website and the address for the archive is
http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.

You may subscribe to the pure text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org and you can unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Prayer Group. Send and receive prayer requests
to over 300 members. Send a blank email to: BBPG-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Inspirational Group. Send and receive
inspirational material to over 100 members. Send a blank email to:
bbinspire-subscribe@welovegod.org

Subscribe to the Burning Bush Restoration and Recovery Group for those with
addictions or recovering from addictions. Receive devotionals and
inspirational material directed toward those with addictions. Send and
receive prayer requests. Over 200 members. Send a blank email to:
tbbrr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Subscribe to the Intercede Life Group and pray for and help in practical
ways those who need help. To subscribe send a blank email to
interclife-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. A closely related website is
Peoplefaces which seeks to help those in need
peoplefaces.ohzone.net/index2.htm