On 1/27/06 - 1/29/06 FCS had its first official Blast and Cast (Duck Hunt and Fishing Trip) near Corpus Christi. On Saturday morning we hunted in two groups. Mark Dillow, Charles Cutchens, Greg Souther, Brian Williams, and I hunted together and bagged four Redheads. Ronnie Ross and Kevin Wall hunted together across the shallow cove from us. Unfortunately they were skunked.
After the hunt Charles and I decided to do some scouting in my Ford F150. We had heard more than one group of hunters shooting north of us and decided to try to find a land route to where they were. We wanted to find a place that had sand that was firm enough to enable us to launch the kayaks, canoe, and johnboat without getting stuck.
After driving about a mile we came to a low area. I came to a stop above it. The bottom looked a little soupy but there were several truck tire tracks through the area. I put it in 4WD High and hit the gas.
The moment that we got into the low area I knew that we were in trouble. I didn’t think that I would make it to the other side, and knew better than to stop and put it in 4WD Low, so I tried to turn around. Big mistake! I didn’t have enough room to complete my U-turn. Halfway through my turn it started to feel like I was like driving on ice. I had no control. I bogged down and came to a stop.
I put it in 4WD Low and we put shrub branches under the wheels but we didn’t budge an inch. We got in touch with Greg and soon the cavalry came to the rescue. We hooked Mark’s F250 to my truck. He gave it gas but all we succeeded in doing was getting him stuck (he was pulled out by Greg) and breaking two of the five tow straps that we were using. We even piggybacked two trucks together to no avail.
After three hours we gave up and called a wrecker. In about 45 minutes the wrecker, complete with a big winch, arrived. In just a few minutes my truck popped out of the muck like a cork from a wine bottle. I ended the morning $300 poorer and a little wiser.
In retrospect what I should have done was to keep moving forward. I still might have gotten stuck but I would have done so on the road, and not mostly in the muck. If I had done this we probably would have succeeded in pulling me out.
Although getting stuck in the muck is fortunately unusual, we Christians get stuck all too often in the past and/or the future.
The following poem is by Helen Mallicout:
“My name is I am” He paused.
I waited.
He continued, “When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Was. When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Will Be. When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is I Am.”
The apostle Paul had something to say about forgetting the past and moving forward in his letter to the Philippians. In 3:10–14 he wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Paul also had something to say to the Philippians about anxiety. In 4:6 he wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” “Anxious about anything” includes being anxious about the future. When we fret about what will happen to our world, country, state, county, or city we are being anxious. This does not mean that we shouldn't be concerned about the future and make plans, but we shouldn't obsess about the future to the point of anxiety.
Jesus talked about applying His teaching in the moment. He said in John 15:11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” He said in John 16:24, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” He was not speaking in the future tense in either of these verses. He did not say that "your joy will be made complete one day." He told us about abundant life in John 10:10 (NASV), “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.” This was not a promise of future abundant life.
He also addressed fretting about the future. In Matthew 6:25-27 He said, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and {yet} your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by being worried can add a {single} hour to his life?” In other words He said, "The birds don't worry about the future because my Father takes care of them; and neither should you worry about the future because my Father takes care of you."
We cannot live in the past. If we try to we will eventually get bogged down and stuck. We’ll be constantly asking ourselves "what if?" Some of the "what if" questions we might ask ourselves include:
What would my health have been like if I had exercised and ate right?
What would my life have been like if I had married someone else?
What would my life have been like if I had chosen a different career?
What would my financial health have been like if I had waited until I was more financially stable before I had started a family?
What would my life have been like if God had given me a different temperament or different gifts?
"What if" makes great fiction and keeps history and sports analysts busy (e.g., "What would have happened if the American carriers had been at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese bombed it?" or "Who would have won if the 72 Dolphins had played the 62 Packers?") but it keeps us Christians from experiencing the abundant life that God intended for us.
We also cannot live in the future. Just like trying to live in the past we will eventually get stuck. We’ll be constantly wondering, “What will probably happen to me?" Some of the "what will probably happen" questions we might ask ourselves include:
What will probably happen if I take that job and move to San Antonio?”
What will probably happen if I move my mom in with me?
What will probably happen if I decide to retire at age 58? Will we make it?”
The problem is we’re not guaranteed that we will have a tomorrow. Yet many people don't live in the now because they're so consumed with planning for the future. How many people have not taken vacations or worked when they were sick just so they could be paid more money when they retire, only to die a year or so after they retired. All their plans were for nothing. God expects us to live to the full today. Again, I am not saying that we should not plan for the future, but there is a big difference between planning for the future and living in it. The future should not be our top priority. God may have something totally different in store for us than what we planned.
God expects us to live in the now. The gifts that He gave us of salvation, the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts, and the fruit of the spirit are not future gifts - to be unwrapped some day. We were made complete in Christ and received His gifts instantly when we accepted Him. Paul told the Colossians in 2:9-10, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Too many Christians only mark their spiritual birthdays and look forward to their eternal destination. They miss out of what God has in store for them right now. God does not want us to read his Word, memorize it, pray, disciple other Christians, serve others, etc. some day. He wants us to take advantage of these blessings right now.
There is a popular saying that a rut is just a grave that has had both ends kicked out. Are you stuck in a rut – living in the past and/or in the future? If so do what I did when I was stuck – get someone to pull you out. The only person who can pull you out when you're stuck in a rut is Jesus Christ. When we ask Him to be the driver of our trucks (lives) and then get out of His way and let Him drive, we will never have to worry about getting stuck again.