Stuck: What do you do?

Have you ever been stuck and didn’t know what to do? Stuck in a job, stuck on a project, stuck in an unhealthy relationship? Recently I got an invitation to submit my work for publication in an upcoming book, but it came with a challenge: use only monosyllabic words, with a few exceptions. It took me three tries to produce something acceptable. This poem is my second try. Maybe you can identify with my struggles.

Stuck

“Write for the book,” I read.

It’s an open door.

What shall I write? I thought

Till I could think no more.

It was clear I was stuck—

Didn’t know what to do.

What shall I write, God?

My eyes are on You.

A thought came to mind

Of my plight as a teen.

No car of my own

With not much green.

“May I use your car?”

I asked Mom and Dad.

They said “no”

And I was sad.

“Our farm road is bad.

You might get stuck.

The sun and the rain

Have turned dirt to muck.”

“I can do it.

I’ll be fine,”

I begged and begged

Till they changed their mind.

My sisters came too

And we were on our way.

We drove to the show,

And all was okay.

Then we came back

And turned down the road.

A half-mile in

Our tires slowed.

I pressed on the pedal,

But the car wouldn’t go.

I tried to back up,

But the car said “no.”

It was clear I was stuck

And my parents were right.

Oh, why did I beg

To go out that night!

In the deep woods

With a mile to go,

No moon, no stars

No light to show.

No way to call,

Scared to go on foot

Through the dark night

As black as soot.

So we stayed put.

“We do not know what to do,”

We prayed, “But…

…our eyes are on You.”

He will come,

That we knew.

So we sat still

Till the light broke through.

It was Dad,

We had no doubt.

He came for us

To get us out!

And so I learned that when I’m stuck

And don’t know what to do

To pray and wait,

For He will come through.

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12b).