Nowhere to Escape!… Hello Hump Day readers, and a special “hello” to many of my new military readers! It is a privilege to share life’s joys with all of you and I have to say “thanks” for putting up with my craziness and love of writing!

I want to confess a problem I still wrangle with—claustrophobia. When I was 8 and went to see my twin sister at the hospital where she got her tonsils out, I got stuck in an elevator for hours. NO phone in there (1962) and it was completely dark. I shouted and shouted and finally someone said “we hear you.” I felt relieved but sadly, to hear someone speak again took hours. By that time, this 8 year-old was seconds away from wetting her pants and starting to punch the walls. I did not cry, but I was mad as a hatter.

I would like to say that at 67 years old, this is in my past, but claustrophobia is not. Perhaps it was something I had already had and my elevator episode exacerbated it, not sure, but it still plagues me at times. I’ve learned what to/what not to do or experience. Even out on a huge boat with Al for a dinner cruise in San Diego was great until I could no longer see any shoreline so it was like being boxed in with nowhere to go. With claustrophobia, it’s not if there is dark or light, it’s not seeing any way out.

So, one of my devotions the other day was about just that—and of course I’m suspecting God wanted me to read this and remind me that, “in God I can do all things.” Ok, that’s a conversation for another day! But in looking for a Scripture to place in this devotion, Psalm 34:17-18 said it all, especially using The Message Bible’s translation… 

“Is anyone crying for help?
God is listening, ready to rescue you.
If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there;
If you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.

The devotion was from Dr. Tony Evans, so I just had to read it because he is a favorite of mine. He told the story of a time he got stuck on an elevator in a high–rise building (now I was very interested). The car was between floors when the system locked up and the people who were in the elevator with him began to panic, banging on the door and yelling in hopes that someone would hear them. Obviously I understood them completely!

So what does this high-energy preacher and author do?—he quietly stepped to the front of the car, opened a little door, and pulled out a telephone and was immediately connected with someone on the outside who could help. He didn’t need to beat on the wall to get their attention. He didn’t need to speak loudly in the phone to receive their help. He could have whispered and they would have heard him. (How I wished my stuck-elevator had a phone!)

He used this devotion to make the point that there are times we’re going to get “stuck” in places where we aren’t comfortable and sometimes we have no ability to escape. If we are people of faith, what should we do first? We all know the answer don’t we—trust in God and get to praying with confidence because God will take care of it.

OK, as an 8-year old kid, that may not be the first thing that comes to your mind, but I do admit, I sang while I was in the darkness…because it was the only thing I could do to get my mind off of my insane fear. Don’t laugh—my first song was something we had just sung in music class at school, “Koo-ka-bear-a-sits-in-the-old-gum-tree” and it made me laugh as I envisioned a Koala bear stuck in gum in a tree. I tried a few others and I remember one thing vividly, nothing worked but then I sang “Jesus Loves Me This I Know” and I sang it over and over and over even doing the hand-signs we learned in Sunday School; and then lights came on and the door opened. Did I realize that I was actually praying then—at that age probably not—but when I read Tony’s devotion this morning it hit me. I just had never equated my “singing-in-the-elevator” until then!

But even more interesting is another realization—I always hum or sing when I have to take an elevator (which I will avoid if I can). And I sing whatever comes to mind. One time, when I was teaching in Walnut Grove, CA, the hotel elevator jerked a lot so, not thinking about the other 5 people riding with me, I just started singing Amazing Grace…which wound up almost becoming a flash mob because when we got to the 12th floor, people had heard us and were singing along when we opened the door. Again, I didn’t equate this incident with my young elevator episode—until today’s Tony Evan’s devotion! (I have already written to him about my crazy claustrophobia stuff and thanked him.)

To sum all this up, is a simple sentence Dr. Evans wrote: “…the person who trusts in the power of confident prayer knows there’s Someone on the other end who hears their call and comes to their aid.” Oh that I would have had that in my head as a kid  because truly, I do believe it would have made a difference for me that day.

Are you stuck with nowhere to escape? Are you in a place right now that you don’t want to be and I’m not just asking about a place or an elevator…are you stuck in life? We don’t have to stay stuck, but we do have to DO something because if we don’t, even if things work out this time, we’ll get stuck again because our prayer life-line is not ‘activated’ and our trust meter is out of batteries.

I think a good thing to do is tell God what’s on our hearts. Yes, God already knows, but when you “pick up the phone” and talk, you are reaching out to God, you are inviting our powerful and loving God to be a part of your life and get  you un-stuck. God longs to set all of us free. Whether you are like me and wrestle with claustrophobia, or have a fear of heights, crowds—life in general, God doesn’t want you stuck. Pray boldly, Dr. Evens said, and yes you can shout out, too—but let that cry for help go to the only ONE who truly can help you now and forevermore…AMEN!