Have you ever been stuck? I remember a few times in our Canadian winters being stuck in the snow. The wheels on my car were just spinning and I wasn’t going anywhere. So how do you get that car unstuck? As good Canadians, we know that you need to give those tires something to grip onto. So you shovel the snow away and if you can, put something solid under the tire. Then it has a chance to grip and get unstuck.

Sometimes we feel like we are just spinning our wheels in life. We get stuck looking back on our past and can’t get moving into our future. We get stuck in a thought pattern or in an emotional state that leaves us paralyzed. So how do you get unstuck? How do you stop spinning your wheels?

In the book of Zechariah, we find the Israelites disillusioned with the re-building of the Temple. They had returned from exile in Babylon 20 years earlier and although they knew what they were supposed to do, they were stuck. They were stuck looking back on what was. They struggled to believe that rebuilding was even possible. What kept them stuck was that they allowed the past to have more power than the present. They had given up on their hopes and dreams of a future. So God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to help them get unstuck.

In Zechariah 8:13 (NLT) we read:

Among the other nations, Judah and Israel became symbols of a cursed nation. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing. So don't be afraid. Be strong and get on with rebuilding the Temple!

Here’s God’s Word to them and to those who are feeling stuck today: Don’t look back. Don't let your past—the good, the bad or the ugly—have more power than the present. God says, I will rescue you and more than that, I’ll make you a blessing! I’ve got good things for your future. God is willing to help you get unstuck. You can put your spinning wheels on the solid ground of who He is and what He can do—but it requires something from you.

Don’t be afraid. Be strong and get on with it. You have to give your fear to God and get on with whatever He told you to do! You have to believe that He is with you and that your future is promising. So, what keeps you stuck? Will you give God your fear? Stop focusing on the past and get on with what He asks of you? It’s a sure way to get unstuck.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.