Stuck in a Swamp

When we moved here, I kept hearing the term 'lowcountry' applied to this area. I thought it just meant basically that it wasn't 'high country.' After living here a while, I've figured out that 'lowcountry,' while not 'high,' is actually a nice way of saying -- "You live in swamps."

There are a lot of swamps around here. It isn't Florida, mind you, but it ain't the Rockies either. One of our favorite of the tourist places to visit in fact is a swamp -- Cypress Gardens. But there is a lot of land around, especially as you get closer to the coast, that is just marsh. It's very low country.

When I think of swamps, I think of stale water sitting around doing nothing, mold and mildew, musty smells, and, of course, dangerous animals like alligators and snakes.

I've found out since living here that a swamp usually doesn't have all of those connotations though. In fact, more than once I've been told that a healthy swamp won't have a musty smell or stale water. A healthy system is constantly refreshing itself. It may not seem that way on the surface, but the water is flowing and being replenished. A healthy swamp (like Cypress Gardens) will flourish and grow. It will smell earthy and floral. After all, why would the animals want to live there if it was musty and stale. There wouldn't be much to live on after a while.

Lately, I've been feeling a little swampy with my Bible studies too. It doesn't really seem like there's anything happening. It's all stale and moldy. I read or study but it isn't seeming to make a difference. Or even a little progress. On the surface it doesn't seem like much is going on.

I'm hoping its a lot like that healthy swamp though. I hope that whatever's going on also involves replenishing, growth, and even flourishing. I still keep seeing all the dangers around me - temptations to give up or stop trying so hard and circumstances that try me all the way to the core sometimes.

But I think those are there because feeling stuck is a vulnerable time -- a good opportunity for evil. So I really have to watch out. And keep trying, not stopping, but pushing on.

And I hope when this time is at an end, I will have proved myself worthy to no longer be called a swamp but rather to be a "Garden" too.