LONGING FOR THE OTHER SIDE
Early one rainy morning, I sat out on the lanai watching the thunderous clouds dump their contents onto the world outside. As I watched, movement from along the bottom of the screen caught my eye. A tiny frog had somehow gotten inside and was desperately trying to find his way back out. He would make his way along the bottom of the screen to the end and then turn around and come back along the same path. This went on for quite some time. I began to imagine that this little frog perhaps thought that being on this side of the screen would be paradise but once inside, realized it wasn’t. There is no food, no water, no plant life, and no one else like himself; he was alone. As he tried to figure out how to get back out, he could smell the rain; water for his parched skin. He could see the plant life right there in front of him, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t reach it. His desperate attempts for escape failed every time.
How often have we demonstrated the same patterns as this little frog? Thinking, “if we just had this or that; lived here or there, it would be so much better?” We follow our desires only to find ourselves trapped in a place we really don’t want to be. What we thought would be paradise couldn’t be farther from the truth. We begin to long for the life we had before we made this bad choice. We begin to desperately look for a way out, but every attempt we make on our own fails. Just like this little frog, we need a Savior. We need someone who is capable of lifting us up and giving us a way out; to deliver us to a place where all our needs are met. For this little frog, his deliverance came through the gentle hands of my daughter-in-law. She gently caught him in the palm of her hand and carefully transported him to the outside where she opened her hand and together we watched as he leaped with joy into the green bushes before him. It was the green bush that he could see from the inside of the screen but couldn’t reach on his own accord. Jesus is the One who brings our deliverance. In first Corinthians 10:13 we are told that God provides a way out for us when we are being tempted by Satan; tempted to follow our own desires, but if we fail to see His way out and fall for the wiley attempts of Satan, we will find ourselves in a situation much like this little frog did; trapped. Then what? Then we quiet ourselves and we get on our knees before our Savior and we ask for His forgiveness. We ask Him to help us to get back on the right side of life. No sin is beyond the reach of God’s grace and in Romans 5:20, we are told “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” Jesus loves us so much that even when we make bad decisions He is eagerly waiting for us to come to Him with a repentant heart. Psalm 86:5 says “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.” In fact, Jesus loves us so much that He tells us in Hebrews 8:12 that not only will He forgive us, but He will remember our sin no more.” He will not keep count of the bad choices we make. When we truly lay our bad choices at His feet in confession and ask for His forgiveness, He gets rid of the memory of them. He will not think of them again!
What a Savior we have! He will lovingly take us by the hand and lift us out of the traps we may find ourselves in and lead us to a place where He will meet all of our needs. All we have to do is ask.