The earth grabbed me firmly around the chest and held me fast. I was stuck in a hole right near the end of the Wild Cave Tour offered at Mammoth Cave National Park.
A Ranger led our small group as we crawled, wriggled, slithered, scraped and shimmied through the natural underground labyrinth. All morning long, we nudged in and out of some very tight spaces. But this time, I was wedged in tight.
“Relax,” said the Ranger calmly. He understood tense muscles tighten and constrict, but relaxed muscles remain supple.
I, however, thought that sounded stupid, and fumed at him for being so calm and seemingly useless, just sitting there looking bored, while I was trapped. So, I gritted my teeth and fought mightily to free myself, putting up a valiant effort while the rest of the group stood and watched me. I strained and I pushed and I flailed.
However, the more I struggled, the more the rocks held firm.
But the rocks did not have a hold of me. They were easy to blame, but it was not their fault. My own actions kept me from freeing myself. My own struggles kept me trapped. The stubborn belief that I could take care of the situation myself left me stuck.
The Ranger left no impression whether he believed in God or not, but his one-word of advice neatly summarized Isaiah 30:15: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”
I would never have gotten free unless I had made the conscious decision to not worry any more about the situation, heed the Ranger’s advice to relax, and let go. Likewise, it is not until we acknowledge that Jesus is in control of everything that we can let go of the many things that hold us, confound us, constrict us, and trap us.
No matter how much we struggle to free ourselves from bad habits, addictions, relationships, or any other situations that grab us, bind us, anger us and scare us, we cannot free ourselves by focusing on them or blaming them.
We cannot slip through the trouble spots of life until we consciously decide to rest and relax based on the truth. The truth is, lasting peace comes only through Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).