Between a Rock and a Hard Place
“You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.”Psalm 139:5
I had, no doubt, spent the last hour describing the troubles that were pressing in on me in the months subsequent to a season of excruciating rescue. My counselor was apt to remind me that while I might not have been in Egypt anymore, I had most definitely not arrived to the Promised Land. Whether or not I was seeing the challenges clearly, I am not certain, but from the vantage point of nearly a decade later, I doubt I was. What I do know, without any uncertainty, is that my counselor responded with kindness and compassion. He picked up his duct-taped Bible and took his time as he thumbed its pages. He read me David’s words from Psalm 139, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” He continued, “I hear you saying that He has hemmed you in. But remember, He has chosen those limitations. And it is THERE that His hand is on you.”
I have come back to those words over and over. I have spoken them to myself; I have spoken them to my children; I have spoken them to counselees. And they are true.
One strategy I find helpful is to think about those limitations, to imagine that wall pressing in on the left and the right, and then to do three things.
Identify the circumstances that make you feel trapped. What things make you feel like you can’t trust and obey? What circumstances feel immovable? What things do you see are true in Scripture but seem impossible to apply in your life?
Ask God to show you where your back is up against the door. Determine if there are things you must give up in order to obey. Find the areas where you are tempted to take more responsibility than God has given you. Ask him to “turn you around” from the circumstances you cannot control, and to turn you toward the door of trust and obedience, even if it is costly to walk through it.
Acknowledge, sometimes “rock and hard place” situations are untenable. I spend a significant amount of time with counselees sorting through situations like these. There are times that, albeit imperfectly, you are trusting, are obeying, and you are still very much hemmed in. In these situations, continue waiting on the Lord and continue asking God to deliver you.
And remember, His hand is on you.
©Jacqueline Larraga, 2024