How Do You Get Unstuck?

I preached a sermon on Sunday, and one of the things I said was that sometimes we just get stuck in life.  Too often we get stuck on something in our past and we just can't get free of it.  We're like an anchored ship, we're stuck right where we are until we cut those anchor chains.  And very often those anchors that keep us from being able to move into our future are deeply dug into our past.

We carry a lot with us we don't need.  Just rubbish.  Old hurts.  Past failures.  Painful experiences.  Awful things we've lived through.  Ugly words people have said to us or about us that continue to hurt us.  Bad habits we can't seem to get free of.  

So how do we get unstuck?

The best place to start is with prayer.  Pray about it.  Tell God you want to be free from all this stuff that keeps you living and reliving the past.  Ask God to show you the way forward, and then fix your eyes forward!  Stop looking in the rear-view mirror and start looking through the windshield!  Ask God to show you His plan for your life.  And then be ready to be surprised.  Expect to be surprised.  Because when God has your attention, and goes to work, you never know where that's going to lead.  But it will be different than anything you can imagine.  Every important thing that's going to happen in this life, and in the next life is ahead of you . . . not behind.

And here's something you can do right now--and I point this out to people fairly regularly.  Mix things up!  How can you expect your life to change, if you don't change your life?  People tell me they are tired of the same thing every day, week after week, and month after month, and year after year.  Nothing ever changes for them.  Yet, having a desire of change, they never do anything different!  They are stuck in an unchangeable daily routine.  How about mixing that routine up a bit?  Just small things.

How about trying a different restaurant?  Or cooking a new dish at home. Maybe break the mold and go to a Bible study.  Read a book about something you know nothing about.  Or make new friends by taking a class at the local community college.  Try the crossword puzzle.  Go to bed later or get up earlier.  There's many, many ways to make small but important changes in your life that will offer new experiences and new opportunities for you.  And if you try a few small changes and find enjoyment in those, you may very well find yourself more willing to make some of those bigger changes the Lord may be leading you to make.

If you want to change your life, then make some changes in your life!  

~Pastor Todd Creason