In A Rut

I always imagined the phrase "in a rut" as going along the same tracks, the wagon wheels going along the old ruts without change, not getting out of the same routine, same old same old, hum drum, I am ready for a change, nothing ever happens, I can't get past where I am at kind of phrase. I can't deny that I have felt this way more than once. Sometimes it is depressing, discouraging or just plain old boring.

One day I was in Sunday school when the teacher used the phrase "in a rut" and described the giant walls and inability to get out. Then it occurred to me that being in a rut might be a bigger problem than I once imagined.

I picture myself in miniature (wouldn't that be nice) inside some tracks left by a wagon wheel or something. (Maybe it would be easier to picture an ant in a track, it is slightly more realistic to think about). I look up at the sides and think how do I get out of this. Suddenly being in a rut seems like a big challenge.

So when it comes down to it would I rather be scaling walls or jumping the track to get myself going in a different direction? I suppose it would be easier to get out of a rut if it were a matter of jumping the track but the view would probably be the same once I did. On the other hand if I had to climb out of that rut to where I were on new ground then I would imagine that the view might be drastically different.

The truth is that each scenario makes us stronger for our current needs. When I began this post over a month ago I was simply pondering the saying "in a rut". Now I have come to a reminder of the nature of life's challenges. In my studies this morning I read an Ensign article called "Putting My Hand in the Lord's". The author quoted Elder B. H. Roberts of the Seventy "those who have to contend with difficulties, brave dangers, endure disappointments, struggle with sorrows, eat the bread of adversity and drink the water of affliction, develop a moral and spiritual strength, together with a purity of life and character, unknown to the heirs of ease, and wealth and pleasure."

In the end it doesn't matter how the saying was meant. The truth of the matter is there are all sorts of challenges. Some of them require minor changes such as overcoming a speed bump and or changing directions and some of them require exercise and strengthening so that we can have the power to get out and move forward. Either way I take comfort in knowing that I will be given the right challenges at the right times according to my needs if I allow the Lord to direct me as He knows best. And I am thankful for it.