A thought by Matt Perman, from his book, How to Get Unstuck (p. 50). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
We all have been there and a great many of us right now, are there.
Matt says, “You seek to do something important and therefore likely difficult. It might go great at first. But eventually, you encounter obstacles. That is, you get stuck.
“We’ve also seen that all is not lost. People who have accomplished historic feats, including Einstein, Mark Twain, and Martin Luther, have experienced being stuck, and they got through it, so you can too. The Bible also talks about being stuck and gives us the encouraging truth that the times when we are stuck are often times when God meets us in a special way. So, you look to God, you implement certain methods to help you get unstuck, and with perseverance, hard work, and skill, you get unstuck.
“What do you do now that you are unstuck? Is that it?”
He says, “Obviously, you keep going toward accomplishing your goals. But there is something else you need to do: you need to help others out of their stuckness.”
He goes on, “The biblical ethic is about glorifying God and serving others. Those who have an advantage are to use it not chiefly for themselves but for the needs of others. As the apostle Paul writes, ‘I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, ‘ “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack” ’ (2 Cor. 8:13–15).
“God enables us to get unstuck not only so we can flourish in our work and lives but also so we can have the joy and privilege of helping others get unstuck.”
He continues, “We need to help others get unstuck in a certain way—namely, without judgment. We should not make others feel bad for being stuck, and we should not assume that it’s their fault. Life is simply hard, and we are doing challenging things. People are going to get stuck.
“We need to help others get unstuck without judgment because the problem is often lack of skill, not lack of will. And because criticism has been shown to be an ineffective way of motivating people. And because the Scriptures teach us to help others with gentleness—even if there is sin behind their problem. ‘Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness’ (Gal. 6:1, emphasis added). And, of course, we must not judge because we ourselves have been stuck as well.”
He then says, “Since getting unstuck is about grace, the grace that we receive from God enables us to get unstuck, and we then extend grace to others to help them get unstuck (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3–7).”
And we all need that, and we need to give that, don’t we?
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