An old mule was stumbling around the farm on which he lived and fell into an abandoned well. It started braying, and the farmer heard it. He went to investigate and soon saw the dilemma. He wasn’t sure what to do. He sympathized with the old mule, but had no idea how to get it out of that well. He concluded that neither the mule nor the well were worth saving. He decided to simply bury the mule and put it out of its misery.

He gathered up a bunch of dirt and started throwing it into the well a shovel full at a time.  The old mule didn’t like this and started getting hysterical. But as each load of dirt landed on it, the mule shook it off, pull its feet up and stomp on the dirt. And it just kept doing that: shake it off, step us and stomp on the dirt, packing it down. The mule just kept on doing it, no matter how painful or distressing it was, shake it off, step up and stomp it down. The mule fought to urge to panic and concentrated on shaking it off, stepping up and stomping it down beneath its feet.  After a while, although the old mule was battered and exhausted, it was able to step over the wall of the well and escape. What seemed like it would bury it alive was actually a blessing. What made the difference was the way that mule handled the adversity.

Sometimes what this world throws at you can get you down. You feel like you are getting dumped on over and over and over again. A loved one battling addiction. Financial concerns. Kids living outside of God’s plan for their lives. Loneliness. Being taken in by a scam artist.  Rioting in the streets against the government. It just keeps coming.

Remember this: The Lord is going to come back when He is ready. When know He is coming back again because He told us He would.

John 14:1–3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Between now and then, as things are dumped on us, you and I just need to shake it off, step up and stomp it down. We have a promise. Not only did Jesus tell us He would come back, but our God also said this:

Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

That gives us the strength to shake it off, step up, stomp it down and keep on going.

Father, thank you for the reminder that no matter what this world throws at us, you are still with us, right by our side. Help us to draw on the strength you provide, knowing that you love us, that you have given us a Savior, that our sins are forgiven for His sake, and that being in your presence forever is our future. May that certainty we have for Jesus’ sake motivate us to shake things off, stomp them down and keep on going. Amen.