When You Feel Stuck and Need Relief

Sometimes life is hard.  Circumstances can leave you feeling stuck and feeling like things will never change.  If your situation is like mine, it has left you aching for relief.  I discovered 5 lessons we can glean from Jeremiah 37 that will encourage us until our circumstances change for the better. 

Earlier this week I will be honest, I just felt empty. For a girl that most days surrounds herself with several bible commentaries, devotions, and bible studies, I honestly just pushed all of it aside. But, on this particular morning, I needed something a little more personal. I felt stuck in a certain situation and just needed to find some answers and some much-needed relief. 

So I took out my favorite worn-out bible with all the tear stains and pages that had been marked up and underlined and sat down. There, in the quiet and stillness of the morning, I began to pray for the word of God to speak. T

God has never failed me. When I go to him with an aching and war-torn heart, he is always ready to mend it—every time. 

I flipped several pages and then landed at Jeremiah 37:15. There we find Jeremiah being thrown into prison for speaking God’s word. He found himself stuck in his own life situation and needed some relief of his own.  

Suffering for good is a lesson for another day. What I felt drawn to reading this chapter on the life of Jeremiah is where he found himself, how long he was left there, and what God did to bring him relief.  

And this girl’s hand was raised high and was calling out Me! Me! on that whole relief part.  

 

So here is the rundown on what I learned to encourage us when we feel stuck…

 

1.  Jeremiah’s naysayers didn’t put him in just any prison cell.  It is described in the KJV version like this, “Jeremiah entered into the dungeon and the cabins.”  Jeremiah was thrown in an underground dirty, dark, and fusty-smelling isolated prison cell. This was far from a luxury cabin in the Smoky Mountains where my family has stayed.  This was a place where you know beyond a doubt if God doesn’t move to get you out that you will not survive.  You may not have felt like that before, but I sure have. If I had to spend one more day going through my situation,  I was going to lose my mind, lose my faith, or better yet, not survive at all—places where I have, like Jeremiah, called out to God for relief. The lesson learned from this chapter is that we can call out to God in the midst of any circumstance. 

2. Second thing we learn is that Jeremiah wasn’t just thrown in this terrible place for an hour or two. The Bible says that he had remained there “many” days.  Jeremiah no doubt felt stuck in his situation and needed relief. So I can take comfort in knowing I am not the only one who has started to feel like it has been so long that you feel forgotten in your situation. Sometimes we all find ourselves in these life situations where we start to question whether it will ever get any better or it will ever end. I know my family and I are walking this road out right now, and it isn’t your fun, exciting trip to Disney.  

 

Take courage. Feeling stuck can change…

 

3. After many days, something unplanned and unexpected happens.  “Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah out, and the King asked him secretly did he have a word from the Lord.” Jeremiah 37:17 (KJV) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2037%3A17&version=KJV   The unexpected and unplanned “then” happens.  I looked up the definition of that simple little word ‘then.’ It means “immediately after.” Immediately after those many days, God said “enough.” Not one more day, an hour, or even one more minute longer. God is still in control and will never allow his people to be destroyed. God truly knows when we can’t take anymore, and he will deliver right on time. Every time.  

4.  Jeremiah spoke God’s message boldly to the king even after being in prison.  We can learn a much-needed lesson in that. We often suffer for speaking the truth, but as much as it may bring us to trials, the same word brings us through and is our deliverance. Holding fast and clinging to God’s holy word has brought his people through the fire, through a hungry lion’s den, and the sea. It has also brought down a giant, defeated unbeatable foes, and even raised the dead. I think that same word has got me covered today. 

5. Jeremiah then makes his request known to this earthly king, and he answers his request. If an earthly king answers a lowly prisoner, how much more will our Heavenly Father give relief to his children when we cry out for it. I am so thankful for the invitation to come “boldly to the throne of grace to find help in time of need.” So the king moves Jeremiah into the court of the prison and orders that he be given a piece of bread out of the baker’s street daily until all the bread in the city is spent.” Thus, God made way for him to be kept safe, fed, and provided for in the upcoming time of war.  If it hadn’t been for the prison, Jeremiah could have very well have been killed in the war zone or left to starve to death.

Friend, God is good even when we walk through hard times.  Even when we can’t see God is working. Even when we feel forgotten, God’s ways are above ours, and we won’t always understand why he does things the way he does. But this I know, he will never fail to work in our favor and for our ultimate spiritual well-being.

 

For whoever needs to hear this today. That feeling like you are stuck and need relief won’t last forever.

 

God has it all planned out. At just the right time. Our God always knows how to bring us relief. 

So hold on, sweet friend.  Your “then” is coming too!