One day at the office, a co-worker of mine walked up and I noticed a dark splotch of some kind on his eye. No, it wasn’t a growth. It turns out he was helping another co-worker dislodge their car from the mud and he got hit with flying debris. He didn’t seem too pleased. I don’t think he was aware of the benefits that mud can bring to your skin.
At first glance, mud doesn’t seem like something you would want to smear all over your body. Much of the time we avoid getting dirty so to do it on purpose is counter-intuitive, but people have been doing it for thousands of years. Some of the benefits include:
Rejuvenating your skin is not a bad idea as it protects and regulates your body. Also, it’s how we feel things. I’m sure we can all use some ant-inflamation to soothe our muscles. Of course, our spine is very important as it carries signals to the rest of body on what needs to be done in the body. I’m sure you are grateful for this biology refresher, but there’s more to this story.
Have you ever had those moments when your dream seems like it is stuck in the mud? The finances aren’t showing up the way you thought they would. The people you thought were going to help you take the next step have mysteriously vanished. The idea you that would really make a difference falls flat. The second guessing starts creeping in and the negativity starts to flow more easily. I’ve never had that experience so you’re on your own here. Well, that’s not true. We all face these momentary afflictions. It may seem like everything is going nowhere or backwards but that is not the case at all.
The behind the scenes work for your life that God is directly involved in never stops moving forward. From our vantage point it may look hopeless, stagnate or unproductive despite our best efforts, but the unseen machinations of the Holy Spirit are busy building up our protection, instilling strength in our inner man and aligning us properly so He can flow through us.
Moving forward with your dreams takes tough skin. Inevitably there will be moments that test your resolve. Before you get to the big moments where everything is happening and it is all on the line, the times where you were “stuck” have prepared you to persevere. If you can make it through the inflammation of stagnation, you will knock down those obstacles that impede your progress. No backbone means you will fold under the slightest pressure. Your dream mud bath just made it that much easier to stand tall under any circumstances.
I love the story of Jesus putting mud in a beggar’s eyes to heal him. It wasn’t regular mud even. He made it from his spit! I’m still waiting to see that gift of the Spirit in the church!
He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
John 9:6-7
Talk about being stuck. This blind beggar wasn’t going anywhere. He was relegated to pleading for handouts from those who walked by every day. But Jesus. Aren’t those words the best? When all seems lost our Savior is there to slap some mud on our face and make everything better. Spit and mud?! Seems humiliating but through Jesus’ mud mask true freedom was given to this man.
You may experience some humbling moments in the mud. There may be times of seemingly no progress. But that mud is for healing, for restoration, for preparation for your future journey. The once blind man can now clearly see the path he must travel to reach his destination.