13 February 2009

Getting out of the bog... back on the highway

Growing up in the South, there are lots of words and phrases that have special meaning.  They give immediate "word pictures."  Say the phrase and you have a vivid picture in your mind.

One of these is the phrase "BOGGED DOWN."

The immediate picture in my head is of a 50's model car on a muddy unpaved road stuck up to it's axle in red Georgia mud. 

"Bogged down" means stuck.  A great car, meant for cruising the highway, but stuck where it is.  A vehicle for movement not going anywhere, kinda pitiful and pathetic.  Un-useful, unmoving, there in the mud.  Stuck.

I keep running into people who feel that they are "bogged down" in ministry, or "bogged down" in career, or "bogged down" in family and marriage.  Stuck.

And I have this amazing sense of empathy and concern that they are not living up to their God-given potential and are spending all their energy and all their time racing their engine, spinning their wheels, slinging the mud, but getting nowhere.  Except maybe deeper in the "bog."

They need help!

People who feel "bogged down" can't get out by themselves.  Somebody needs to be behind the wheel, foot on the gas giving energy from the front seat.  But somebody needs to get in the back and push!

As I've been moving toward certification as a Christian leadership coach, learning new things, developing new skills and beginning to coach "bogged down" people I see amazing things happen.

Seems like such a "God-thing" when you sense people drilling down into their hearts and situations to get out of the "bog" and back on the road.  Maybe a little dirtier from the experience, but moving down the highway!

I love being used by God!

2 comments:

  1. I remember two roads outside Moultrie that we always bogged down on going to church as a kid. I've also felt that bogged down feeling in ministry. You didn't mention the exhilaration of getting unbogged. When the car finally squirts free, there's no better feeling in the world. Same thing in ministry; getting free is the best!!!

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  2. Sounds like a great calling! Be Blessed in it!

    I found your blog through Bill Meli. He showed up as someone who followed my blog and when I went to see who he was I saw the link to yours.

    Awesome words and beautifully written!

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