Between a Rock and a Hard Place

It was a last minute flight to Florida. I requested an exit row. The only one available was  a middle seat. How bad could it be? I’d still have more leg room than a regular seat, and I can in fact resuscitate people should the plane crash.

What I wasn’t counting on was to be stuck between Mama Bear and Papa Bear. I could hardly believe my bad luck. The first thing out of Mama Bear’s mouth was: “I’m so glad we didn’t end up with a big person between us.”

Um, what about the notion that I would be stuck between the two of them big people? Did that ever cross her mind? Did it ever occur to Mama Bear that the poor little person between her and her Big Bear could be a simple little girl with personal space issues? That I would rather not have to listen to the Bears’ conversations or be the go between to every minute interaction?

Have you ever felt stuck between a rock and a hard place? You feel pressure from the right and from the left. You don’t know where to turn. Just when you think things will let up on one side, you get bumped on the other side. And you never intended to get on that flight to begin with, you just somehow got stuck in a tight spot with no way to escape.

Being between a rock and a hard place isn’t always a bad thing.

Check David’s example in Psalm 139:5 where he says “you hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me, such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it”.

In Isaiah 30:20-21 puts it this way:

“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

Here are some principles to remember when you feel squeezed between the tough circumstances of your life.

1.  Keep your eyes focused straight ahead.

2.  Don’t forget that there is a bigger reason for the journey.

3.  Remember that God hedges you in even more closely than the pressures you feel.

4.  The flight will eventually end.

Being between a rock and a hard place is not easy but God’s grace is sure to find you there.

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