SHAKE OFF THE DUST

SHAKE OFF THE DUST

He stepped into the quicksand mud hole and sunk up to his neck. To free himself, he lifted his knees up as far as he could and crawled slowly with his arms and knees to the edge of the slime. Then he stood, shook himself off, and took off all his clothes. He had to do that because if he left the sand on himself, soon it would itch and tear at his skin and cause terrible infections.

 

This TV story reminded me of Jesus talking to his disciples: “Whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5). The disciples listened.

 

Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in what today is southern Turkey. “And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts” (Acts 13:49-50).

 

Then Paul and Barnabas did what Jesus told them to do. They moved on. “They shook off the dust of their feet against them and came unto Iconium” (Acts 13:51).

 

When we let something go, we have room for something else to replace it. Shaking off the grit leaves an empty spot. The survivalist who crawled out of the quicksand barely made it out, and he had to expose himself. He got naked.

 

When we’re trapped in something, part of our deliverance may include being exposed. If we’re leaving something, we may not be assured of what we are going to do. We may turn our backs to being overly involved with certain people or certain organizations, and when we go, we sometimes don’t quite know what to do.

 

We let other people and groups give us our identity, and without them, we may not be entirely sure of who we are or what we want. But Jesus knows who we are and when we’ve lost something or have just crawled out of the quicksand and are standing there naked—well, that’s the perfect time to turn to Him. He is more than willing to show us the way. I love that verse in Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

 

Sometimes I feel like we just stay in the quicksand, or we get out and then stand there naked, instead of just going to the door and letting Jesus in to have a chit-chat over dinner and figure out our next move.  

 

Most of the time, we seem to stay in adverse situations longer than we should. Some of the reasons could be: We honestly don’t realize how bad they are. We know how bad they are, but we don’t want to acknowledge it. We are too afraid or too tired to think about having to change. We don’t have much hope in what’s ahead.

 

Or maybe we want to leave but for some reason need to stay a while longer in the situation. Often that’s the hardest position to be in, holding out till we actually reach the exit.

 

In the show about the guy in the quicksand, he had to have the presence of mind just to keep focused on what he needed to do—crawl slowly to the edge. He couldn’t move too fast, or he would be sucked down. So what do we do? We get discouraged or angry, or fearful and stay put. But we need just to keep moving toward our goals, even if it’s only a little at a time.

 

When we have to stay in the mud hole until the right time to get out, an excellent way to stay healthy is to open that Revelation 3:20 door to the Lord every day. We remember to ask that He shows us something new, teach us something we can use, give us some way to bless someone before we leave, things like that—things that keep our minds and hearts from being bitter. Instead of focusing entirely on the situation we’re in, we can focus on what He’s showing us without being a part of it.

 

I remember when I was about a month away from moving back to the States from South Africa. I worked at an insurance company doing some filing. Every day was drudgery. It was horrible and was making me sick and weak. I didn’t need the money. So why did I stay? Obligation? Loyalty? Habit? I have no idea, but when it was over, I was kicking myself for not leaving sooner.

 

Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off against the people that didn’t want them around, and they went to the next town. That’s what Jesus taught them to do, and Jesus knew what it was like to be unwanted. He knew how to just shake the dust off and move on.

 

In Luke 8, we see Jesus doing a great miracle by casting out a legion of demons from a man that no one else could help. But the people in the region were freaked and wanted Jesus out!

“Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear.”

 

And what did Jesus do? “He went up into the ship, and returned back again [to the other side of the Sea of Galilee]” (Luke 8:37). He didn’t get mad or resentful like we do at times, but he just moved on to the next thing God wanted him to do. He knew that these people sowed bad seed by asking him to leave, and he knew they would get the results coming back on them. But that wasn’t his problem. He had better things to do.

 

The survivalist I was talking about shook and scraped off the quicksand, put his clothes back on, and took off for the next adventure.

 

I have several friends who have taken on new adventures over the past years, and I am so proud of them for having the boldness to move on. I pray they open the door for the real Jesus to come in, spend time with them and talk things over, then lead them in the next step of their lives. Sometimes that comes instantly, sometimes it takes a little time. But the Lord never forsakes us.

 

Everyone is going to end up in some quicksand at one point or another. But we can trust in Jesus to see us naked, clean us up, clothe us, and lead us on. Let’s be courageous, shaking off the dust and sowing some good seeds.

 

Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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