[451 words]
Most every night, I sit down with my son and read him a bedtime story. He likes to hear some of the stories over and over, and I get so tired of some of them, to be honest. However, there is one that I don’t mind reading over and over. It’s the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! It is a story about traveling through the adventures, struggles, and victories of life. In one of my favorite sections, the story talks about experiencing the bumps and bruises that come in the journey of life.
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t
Because sometimes you won’t
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, its true
That Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickie-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a lurch.
You’ll come down from the lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a slump.
And when you ‘re in a slump you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
If we are not very careful, the down times and the bumps will really affect us. We can take those hurts, disappointments, and pain and just wallow in them. We can easily get in a slump. Webster’s defines a slump in the following ways: “to decline suddenly, as in…activity” and “an extended period during which a player, team, worker, etc. is below normal in performance.”
Maybe theses definitions define our Christian lives. Maybe we can be guilty of a “decline in activity” or being “below normal in performance.” Maybe that describes our prayer lives, Bible study, participation in various congregational activities, evangelism, visiting, etc. Maybe we get in a slump because we are too busy, distracted, or selfish. From time to time, we all need to do some self-evaluating (2 Cor. 13:15, Gal. 6:4) and see if we are in a slump.
When we find ourselves in a slump, we need to look to the Bible (Acts 20:32), look to Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2), look to God’s love (2 Cor. 5:14), and look to God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10). I think at times we all need to take to the difficult task of “un-slumping” ourselves.
Joe Williams
Pulaski Street Church of Christ
Lawrenceburg, TN