Well Well Well
There is a dusty old nursery Rhyme from way back in the 16th Century, and it goes something like this; “Ding Dong Dell, pussies in the well, who put him in, little Johnny Flinn, who pulled him out, little Johnny Stout.” Now I heard a story a long time ago, and I think it was of Mexican origin, of an old farmer that had a very dry disused old well in his yard, and somehow one night his poor old Donkey somehow fell into it. Well after much debating and fruitless rescue attempts, it was finally decided that the best and safest thing was to just fill in the old well, and to bury the poor old Donkey at the bottom of the dry old well. So the community pitched in and with barrow loads of dirt from the big pile they were wheeled over and dumped into the well to fill it in, fast and furiously they worked, sweating and dusty with clouds of dust swirling all about, and then suddenly the old Donkey appeared and looked around at the chaos, then it jumped out of the nearly filled in well, shook off a cloud of dust, and then wandered over to the trough for a drink and then meandered off for a sleep under the big shady tree, for to sleep off the stressful events of the past adventure. What had actually happened was that the old Donkey had instead of just giving in, just giving up and letting itself be buried under all that was being poured and was being heaped in upon it, just shook it all off, and then stood upon it, layer upon layer, until it finally stood on firm ground, and now very much above ground.
“A wise person makes a firm foundation out of all the rocks that are thrown upon them.” Maybe we need to be more like that old Donkey stuck down the well, when things look so very bleak and nasty, just shake it off, then to stand firm upon it, and who knows where that path will lead us, but we are refusing to be weighed down and buried, for we are still standing, and we are not overcome by any of it, or by all of it, for we are connected to Jesus and are obedient to the Holy Spirits leading. Here is a song lyric from Gaither Music; “He came down to my level, When I couldn’t get up to His, With a strong arm He lifted me up, To show me what livin’ is, He’ll come down to your level, If you’ll open up the door, He wants to make your life worth livin’, That’s what He came down for.” Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” When we are at our lowest, we can be assured of this; “When we are down to absolutely nothing, then God is definitely up to something.” Should we be low down, or even when we are at our highest, when we cannot see a clear path before us, or when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, God saves all the time, even when we feel that we are beyond hope, that there is absolutely no way out, no way forwards, or that there is any way out of this predicament, remember this, Psalm 46:7 “The LORD of hosts [is] with us; the God of Jacob [is] our refuge.” Romans 8:37-39 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Not even when at our lowest, with loads of dirt being continually heaped and rained down upon us, nothing can burry us, for we just grow in Grace and Knowledge, and tread down all those troubles and trials, for even filthy water can still grow beautiful flowers.
YouTube often posts film clips of a Digger Driver reaching out with the long arm of his machine to scoop a trapped animal out of a bog hole of death, out of a river, for to lift them up and to place their feet on solid ground. God has a very long arm, and a repentant sinner is always scooped up, and placed safely back upon sold ground, especially upon the solid rock, which is Christ Jesus our Lord. An elephant once got stuck in a bog hole in Africa, but the local villagers teamed up, came around behind it with a thick fire hose webbing, and then moved forwards on either side, and with their assistance, and by tugging and pulling in unison together, the trapped animal manages to struggle forwards, bit by bit the mire was left behind, until it then stood triumphantly on firm solid ground. How often we seem to be like that trapped elephant in the mire, so easy to get into, but so nearly impossible to get out, then along comes God, and with God and supporters, we get by with a little help from our friends, we escape the mire and stand once more upon solid ground. Always remember this; “Be thankful for today, because in a blink of an eye, your entire life can change.” As the old Hymn says, “It is well with my Soul,” so how well is your soul? Colossians 2:2-3 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” ‘Well, Well, Well,’ how are you getting along? Have you fallen into sin, got trapped in a mire of despondency, then look up, call unto the Lord and he will hear you; his arm is not short that he cannot reach you, stand up, step up, hold tightly onto God’s hand, and walk in Faith on the firm path of salvation.
