ENTRAPPED

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Ecclesiastes 9:12b (NRSV)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever felt entrapped by life’s circumstances, feeling like there is no escape no matter what you do?

I know I have and after reading today’s verse, it has been going on for people over least 2,000 years now. Look at these words from the 9th chapter of Ecclesiastes:

Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them. (v 12b)

Imagine for a moment you are a fish. Things are well as you swim freely through the water and enjoy life. One day, as you were swimming with others, something unexpected happened for all of a sudden, you found yourself in a net that was quickly moving up toward the water’s surface. Wedged against other fish as the net closed around you, there was no room to move, no room to swim. And before you knew it, you were pulled from the water into brilliant sunlight that was always masked by the depths you existed in. You were trapped, helpless, and unable to get away and return to your normal life in the water.

Now picture yourself as a bird who is always free to fly through the skies, gliding with ease through the air while looking down on humans and animals who were not created with the gift of flight. You love the freedom and liberation that comes with being able to soar above the masses.

One day, you land on the ground to look for a few things to eat. Your senses tell you that something tasty is just ahead but as you move to the food, you find out that it is really a trap and become ensnared, unable to move, grounded and unable to fly away to freedom.

In both cases, whether we’re talking about the fish or the bird, life was good until calamity suddenly came and entrapped them in their perilous circumstances. The net-held fish, removed from life sustaining water, would surely die soon. The bird grounded and unable to fly or run would be easy pickings for a predator and there is no shortage of those for birds.

We can find ourselves feeling like the fish or bird sometimes. Maybe you are relating to them in the midst of your current situation, a mortal snared at a time of calamity that has suddenly fallen upon you.

So what are we to make of this? What is God trying to tell us here?

Is it solely about stating the obvious, that bad things happen to people in life? Is it all about entrapment by life’s circumstances?

The answer is no. For if we simply focus solely on the matter of being entrapped, then we are missing the main point the Lord is trying to make here. And that point is that we need Him to make it through life. We can’t make it on our own.

Think about it. The fish in the net has no chance unless someone grabs them and throws them back into the water. Their fate is in the hands of someone outside of themselves. Ditto for the bird who will remain in that snare until someone releases them from their bondage.

So too is it for us when we are going though trouble in life that has us bound up and captured. We can’t break away from our difficulties on our own without some form of help and intervention.

Enter the Lord, the One who is with us and for us, the One who never leaves us nor forsakes us, the One who is ever liberating us and setting us free.

If you are entrapped, you can struggle and struggle and struggle to free yourself but those efforts will be useless and fruitless. You’ll only find yourself further damaged or exhausted by your efforts to escape.

Trust the Lord and lean not on yourself. Allow Him to set you free from whatever perils you’re going through and lead you back into a place where you can live fully for Him in joy and peace and service and love. He’s always standing by to lend a hand.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com