Have you ever heard the old saying, “If you’re going to drown, don’t do it in a mud puddle”? This saying can have various meanings, but to a Believer, it means don’t let something unimportant destroy your faith. You might ask yourself, “What little things bother me?” “How can I keep these little annoyances from turning into major problems?” And, “How does Yahweh want me to deal with them?”
It’s one thing to struggle with larger issues such as chronic illness, marriage problems, or power struggles between you and your rebellious teenagers, but what about the little things that cause you to “snap.” You know, like when the car won’t start or your child accidently spills milk all over your just-mopped floor? Little situations can cause major troubles. Marriages have dissolved over petty things, and even some religious groups have split because two of the members had minor personality conflicts.
We can learn a lesson from King Uzziah in the Bible. For fifty years he was a faithful king of Judah. But then he “drowned in a mud puddle.” His downfall came not because of a life-shattering trial, but because of a simple pride problem. He didn’t understand why he should be denied performing the tasks Yahweh had given to the priests. Read 2 Chronicles 26: 16-21 to see how Yahweh dealt with King Uzziah. Leprosy is not a nice disease!
You can probably think of many ways that you yourself may have stumbled into a muddy quagmire. Perhaps you felt that someone at Sabbath services ignored you or treated you badly. Without even going to the person who might have offended you, you allowed yourself to stew in anger. You do have a choice. Ask for Yahweh’s help. You can either deal with it properly or you can allow yourself to sink deeper into the mud.
If need be, make a list of all the little things that bug you. Be honest with yourself—are these things mole hills that you are making mountains out of? Once you identify your sore points, you can then create a battle plan to defeat them with Yahweh’s help. You never want to one day hear, “This Believer drowned in a mud puddle.” Instead, you want to hear the comforting words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”