Years ago there were these Saturday Matinee movies on television, which were mostly westerns, sci-fi and comedy. The older westerns always seemed to somehow work in a scene about quicksand. I’m not sure how so many different folks, in so many different areas, actually got into quicksand, but nonetheless it was a large part of the western movie genre of that day. I’ve since wondered just how many of the early settlers coming out west actually did get stuck in quicksand. Was it 2%, 85%, or somewhere in between? How much quicksand was really out there and how much still is out there…. somewhere?
Those of us who watched those westerns learned a few of the basic quicksand rules, like: the more you struggle, the deeper and quicker you sink; also, it’s a great idea to have a really smart dog that can run and get help or bring you an old branch to hold onto, while the dog bites onto the other end and gruelingly backs up, dragging you from the mire; alternatively, it is also helpful to have a very smart horse who can assist you out by backing up just close enough for you to get a hold on his tail, whilst he drags you to freedom. Of course there were also certain advantages that came along with the quicksand. Let’s say that someone was mistreating you or that they had something else that you needed. If they happened to get into the quicksand, they were usually subject to some very lopsided negotiations, like “I’ll get you out of there if you tell me where the treasure map is.”
It always puzzled me how short lived the impact of being mired in quicksand up to the neck appeared to be. If it were me, I’d be talking about this strange occurrence for weeks. I’d be analyzing and reanalyzing the “Lesson’s of the Quicksand,” as I’m confident I would come to call them. I’m sure I’d get a newsletter or a sermon or two out of the experience. Let’s face it; I’ve got one going here just from seeing it on television! What I’m getting at is that the people almost never mentioned it again. However, sometimes they would track down the one who rescued them after one of those lopsided negotiations, and renege on their previous deal. It seemed okay since they were taken somewhat advantage of in their precarious quicksand position, but I believe that I’d let it go under the premise that my life, for any map or whatever, was actually a pretty fair trade. After all, what good would a treasure map do me at the bottom of a quicksand pit?
The overriding lesson that quicksand stories seem to relay, is that life is bound to throw a few of those quicksand moments at us from time to time. We are likely to get stuck or mired down in life, periodically. When we do, perhaps we’ll have to rethink some of our goals and replace them with new ones. Goals which serve us in our new, current, real life situation, rather than trying to stick to some plans that were made from the perspective of an expectation of a kinder, gentler life path other than the one that our reality has taken us to. Just like the quicksand, sometimes struggling against things and trying to get out of the situation by attempting to make old goals and dreams work, simply causes us to get more stuck. Once we accept our predicament and become willing to deal with it in truth, we empower ourselves to begin to find the way out from being stuck and thereby getting on with life. This might mean getting out of the quicksand on a different side of the bog than we first thought. Then, once our feet are back on solid ground, we can chart a new direction to follow. It would also probably be worthwhile to remember the lessons that we learned through the experience, and not just pretend that it never happened. This tends to help us recognize the quicksand pit before we actually step back into it.
Ultimately, only God can teach us how to stand in the challenges of the quicksand, and lead us out to solid ground, and then, on from there. Instead of struggling on our own to get out, let’s learn to follow God no matter how solid or treacherous the ground beneath our feet becomes. Lean on Him and not your own understanding.
Blessings!

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