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Shake
it Off & Step Up!
A Parable
A
farmer owned an old donkey.
One day, while leaning in to get a drink,
the donkey fell into the farmer's well.
The farmer heard the donkey braying loudly
and followed the sound to its source --
and found the donkey standing at the bottom of the well.
After
carefully assessing the situation,
the farmer sympathized with the old donkey,
but the well was deep, and there was no
way to haul the donkey out of it.
The farmer called his neighbors, and asked
them to come give him a hand
-- and to bring dirt and shovels.
The neighboring farmers came,
with dirt and shovels in their trucks.
Neither the donkey nor the well
was worth the trouble of saving.
The only thing they could think to do
was to bury the old donkey in the well
and put him out of his misery.
It was a shame, but there was nothing
else that could be done.
As the farmers shoveled dirt into the well,
the old donkey was hysterical!
The
donkey brayed louder than ever
when the dirt hit his back, but the farmers kept shoveling.
Then
the farmers noticed what the
donkey was doing. Every time a shovel load
of dirt landed on the donkey's back, he brayed loudly -- but then
he would shake it off and step up!
As
the dirt was shoveled down
on top of him, the donkey continued.
The
farmers and the old donkey got into a rhythm --
the farmers would drop a shovel load
of dirt down the well, and the donkey
would shake it off and step up.
No matter how heavy the dirt, or
how distressing the situation seemed,
the old donkey fought panic and just
kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!
Finally,
battered and exhausted, the
old donkey stepped triumphantly
over the wall of the well!
What seemed like it would bury him
actually helped him ...
all because of the manner in which
he handled his adversity.
Instead of letting it bury him,
the dirt became his road to freedom.
That's
life! If we face our problems and
respond to them positively, and refuse to
give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity,
then the adversities that seem likely to
bury us usually have within them
the very real potential to help us.
When
loads of dirt are being
dumped on you, just think:
are you letting it bury you,
or are you using it to climb upwards?
Shake it Off & Step Up!
From
the apostle Paul:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,
about the hardships we suffered . . .
We were under great pressure, far beyond
our ability to endure, so that we
despaired even of life. Indeed,
in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.
But this happened that we might not
rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril,
and he will deliver us. On him we have
set our hope that he will continue
to deliver us, as you help us by
your prayers. Then many will give thanks
on our behalf for the gracious favor
granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
--
2 Corinthians 1:8-11
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