When You’re Feeling Stuck

Moms, mentors, and twenty-somethings, this post isn’t just for the high school graduates today. Hang in there with me and keep reading!

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The time has finally come. You’ve donned your cap and gown, gotten a new outfit to wear, maybe even a new pair of shoes for the occasion. Any moment now they’ll call your name. You’ll stand up, walk up to the stage (carefully!) with your head held high, and there in your hand they’ll place it. It’s the final battle cry. You have won. You have graduated!

But then what? What happens after your cap flies into the air and comes back down again?

Are you an adult now or still considered a child? People will tell you that with graduation comes the “adult responsibility,” but you might find yourself not quite ready to let go of being young and carefree either.

Oh, have I been there. I’ve felt those feelings.

After I graduated high school, I experienced such excitement for the future I could hardly stand it.

What will I end up being when I finally “grow up?”

Who will I meet in college? Will I make any new friends?

What will my professors be like?

Yes! I finally get my freedom!

But then, those thoughts were followed up with:

How will I do my laundry?

Will anyone like me?

Will my current friends and I stay close since we’re moving away from each other?

What if I don’t like it and want to move back home?

Oh friend, I know the many thoughts and feelings running through your mind right now. It’s such a scary and yet exciting time. I even wrote a post several years ago for More to Be on my difficult transition into college life that you might find helpful. However, what I really want to share with you applies to graduates (both high school and college) and the rest of us. I feel like there’s a certain emotion that comes up around this time of year, which we don’t talk about very much.  I don’t think there’s a card at Hallmark for it, although Hallmark does seems to have a card for everything!

Stuck

So today, recent graduate or not, I’m thinking of you. You. My precious friend who feels…

stuck.

You aren’t sure what you want to do with the rest of your life. You aren’t sure what your plans will be three months down the line because you’re still trying to figure out today. You’re uncertain of many things.

No one really talks about those of us who feel stuck sometimes. And at one point or another, we will probably all feel stuck in our lives.

I can’t think of a better time to seek God’s counsel and path for your life than at the time when you have no idea which path to follow.

[Tweet “Sometimes there is beauty in being stuck.”]

In not knowing what will happen next.

In being uncertain of the path God is calling you down.

In feeling like everyone around you has it together and knows where they’re going in life. But not you.

This is the time God is working!

Now in all fairness, God is working all the time in our lives. Every day, He’s alive in our hearts if we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior, and HE IS WORKING. But in the times of “stuckness” (yes I made that word up!), He’s working to draw you closer to Him.

This scripture from John 15 comes to mind when I’m feeling stuck:

John 15: 1-4 NLT

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

I love this in verse 2:

He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t product fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

Perhaps God is using this time in your life as a way of pruning you for what’s next so that you will eventually bear more fruit.

Look around you. Does God have you planted where you are for a reason? 

Are there people around you who are helping you grow spiritually? Or maybe there are “dead branches” or negative influences in your life you need to let go of?

Do you need to heal from a past hurt so you can finally move on?

Is there a friend in your life who needs to hear that Jesus loves her before you go your separate ways?

There could be a thousand reasons why God has you planted where you are. You may feel stuck and uncertain of the future. You may feel like everyone else is moving on and you’re not. But ask God, “Do you have me here for a reason? How can I bear fruit where I am?”

Maybe you are meant to be pruned in this current season of life. Don’t be afraid to ask God what He’s pruning you for. Bear fruit. Be that branch to others. And remember…

Sometimes there is beauty in being stuck.

 

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray that anyone who reads this post today and feels stuck will see that you are still working in their life. You haven’t abandoned them or forgotten them. You’re pruning them for a greater purpose! Help us all not play the comparison game with others. When we’re faced with not knowing which path to take, help us always seek you before we take a step. 

In Jesus precious name, Amen.

 

Have you been feeling stuck recently? How have these words challenged you to find beauty in being stuck?

 

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