I’ve always dreamed of hosting a Poppy and Franny Camp for our future grandkids. (My husband is Poppy and I am Franny and yes, we have arrived to the greatest destination in life … grandparents!!!). Poppy and Franny Camp is a special time at our house where we play and intentionally make all the memories. The future has arrived and we hosted the long awaited Poppy and Franny Camp in July for our first grandson, Maverick. To our delight, camp has gotten extended and we have even more time with our little boy. He’s here with us and our days are filled with the adventures and excitement of life through a 2 year old, and our nights are filled with a tiny human crawling in our bed to sleep sideways. It’s all one huge blessing and I intentionally keep every detail in it’s rightful position of being a blessing and I refuse to allow it to ever become a burden.

I wonder if we all need to pause today and check our blessings. Have we allowed them to become burdens? Have we lost perspective? Have we tried to rush this? Have we gotten caught up in the things that don’t really matter and missed the things that do? Unprotected blessings become unintentional burdens.

My little blessing has something he says dozens of times every day. He says, “I-tuck” which translates to “I’m stuck.” He’s never literally stuck, he just can’t figure our how to do something. “I-tuck” is his cry for help. But interestingly enough, in his 2 year old way, he doesn’t want you to do it for him, he just wants you to help him ever so slightly, then let him continue do it himself.

And isn’t this exactly what we do? We call out to God, “I’m stuck”, anytime we can’t figure it out on our own, but we only want enough help to continue doing it our way. I see it now, I’m a perpetual toddler, and God is forever a good, good father.

Hold that thought … we’re coming back to it.

Earlier this week, I was flying from San Fransisco back to my little island off the tip of Florida, and I was mesmerized by the mountains below. I’ve been in those mountains before … in fact, I’ve been stuck in those mountains. They’re the beautiful Spring Mountains just outside of Las Vegas. These desert mountains cover over 300,000 acres. The hiking trails crawl through crevices and deep ravines, then over large boulders with beautiful views.

From the widow seat of isle 14, the mountains appeared to be flattened all into shades of brown and gray. I could see the trails all winding and eventually connecting. It was all so simple from so high up. It all made sense from this perspective. But on the ground … I know how hard those trails are.

My hiking experience in the Spring Mountains went a whole lot like most of my hiking adventures … I got a little lost along the way. Lost to the point the only way out was to do a little rock climbing because I had wandered my way into the “rock climbing section”. That’s my gift y’all … I can take a simple hike and turn it into an epic adventure. We will end up scaling rocks and wishing we had ropes, but we won’t have ropes and we will survive to tell another great story of how we can do really hard things!

Deep in between the massive boulders of the mountain, I could see no way out. But how many of us know from personal experience, just because you can’t see the way doesn’t mean the way doesn’t exist. It was there … I was just stuck. Stuck because my position didn’t allow me a higher perspective.

That’s where God comes in! God’s position is always perfect. He sits high above the Earth with a perspective that sees it all. Isaiah 40:22, “God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him.” That’s a position with a higher perspective. High above us, things look different. And with this perspective, our problems are flattened and the way is so clear.

Just like the view from seat 14F on the airplane. The trails all connected. There was clearly a way out. Even the highest peaks were flattened to be nothing more than a variation in color. Yet, this is precisely where I have been stuck before. Somewhere in that 300,000 acres of peaks and valleys, boulders and crevices, I was stuck. But my God knew my exact location and the way out.

I don’t know where you may be stuck today, but I know for sure, God knows the way out for you. His eye is on you, you have not gone unnoticed by your loving father. This is not hopeless and you are not helpless. With God’s higher perspective, these mountains in your way are flattened and the way out is so clear. My sister, your job is to call on him for help, then trust him as you take the next step.

One thing I figured out is, God faithfully guides my next step but he expects me to actually take that step. Sometimes I would prefer a rescue helicopter to come swoop me up out of my problems, but instead I’m simply supernaturally strengthened for the next step I wasn’t so sure I could take. That’s how God gets me unstuck.

Now, the way to stay unstuck is to learn the lesson from my grandson. He says “I tuck”, but it doesn’t mean he really wants me to help him. It means he wants me to encourage him as he does it his way. He wants me to sometimes spot him in case he falls doing it his way. The last thing he wants me to do is full on fix it for him. He’s entirely too independent and head strong for that.

Girl, this independence streak of insisting you do everything your own self is causing some major messes in your life. You’re making this all so much harder than it needs to be. What if your way isn’t the right way? What if your way will have you wandering down the wrong trails for 5 more miles … or 5 more years. Have you ever looked up to realize you’ve been going the wrong way for 5 years? There’s only one thing worse that going the wrong way for 5 years … go that way for 6 years … or 7 … or … are you going to just keep going?

What if your way will only make this worse? If you’re stuck, not sure what to do from here, ASK GOD TO HELP YOU!

Then, when God helps you, trust him! Trust his perspective allows him to see things you cannot see. Trust his way is always better than your way. Trust when he gives you the next step to take, you should just take it. Where’s the next step? It’s ALWAYS right in front of you.

God knows his girls get stuck … a lot. In fact, he knows without his help, we can never make it through this on our own. That’s why he sent his son Jesus. Jesus came so that you would get unstuck, Sis. He is your way out and he is your way through.

Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Are you afraid right now, looking around where you are stuck? Don’t be. Are you discouraged right now, feeling helpless and hopeless? You’re not! God sees the way through this and he will guide you. He will strengthen you for your next step. Take it, Sis. Take it!

Let’s look at that same scripture in 2 different translations.

MSG: “Don’t panic, I’m with you. (Receive that directly from your loving and all-powerful God right now.). There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.”

TPT: “Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. (Think about yielding to fear like yielding to traffic. If you’re yielding, then you’re giving it the right of way, letting it go first. Isn’t that what you’re doing with fear? You’re letting fear lead you? You’re letting fear go first as you stay stuck without moving forward. Yeah, God says DON’T DO THAT. Don’t yield to fear, I’m right here!). Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation.”

Today, may you be infused with God’s strength and see he is truly helping you with every situation. Call out to him for help. Tell him, “Lord, I’m stuck and I fully want your help for my next step. This doesn’t have to be my way, I want your way. I can’t see what you can see, so I trust your way is better than my way. Show me the way through. Show me the way out. I’m lifting my foot in faith as you guide my next step.”

This is how you get unstuck, my friend.

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com