stuck

Elvis Presley used to sing about being Caught in a trap.

I know, because a long, long time ago, way before they'd ever even thought of CDs, far less ipods and the like, I went out and bought a bargain basement double album with 50 of the great man's greatest hits.

They called them LPs in those days. 'Long Players'. And I can vouch for the fact that running through Elvis' 50 greatest hits is a long, long play.

One of them was the Caught in a trap one. Which went on to explain the essence of his predicament in terms of the fact that we can't get out.

Which maybe sounds a bit banal, and a bit like stating the obvious, but, believe me, when the great man started doing his thing, nothing sounded banal!

There was a guy called Moses who must have at times felt like that.

Like when he led the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt. Which was a pretty amazing thing. And the people were understandably and more than just mildly chuffed. At least to start with.

But then they reached a point which was kind of like a dead end. With a massive big sea in front of them. And the army of Pharaoh coming charging along behind.

A very literal dead end.

It's not a nice feeling the Israelites felt right then.

And I had that experience again myself today.

I'd gone up town to collect an item from one of the shops. Their collection point is in a little one way street. Well, more a lane in truth.

I turned down the lane and got so far when I realised in front the traffic had totally stopped. A queue had plainly formed.

And by the time I'd seen the problems that might now arise, it was too late. There was traffic behind me as well.

A sizeable, no-way-past-me Carlsberg truck had parked itself right in the centre of this narrow road (sorry, lane), and gave every indication of being there off-loading its wares for the duration.

Now Carlsberg, I know, is probably the best lager in the world. But at moments like this that particular brand of lager was probably far from being top of the popularity ratings had a quick straw poll been taken of the traffic in the street (sorry, lane).

And unlike the way the problem was resolved for Moses long ago, there was no parting of the (brewery) liquids there in front of me. But then, I suppose, it wasn't quite Pharaoh's army which was charging behind.

It was just, for the moment, a dead end.

A mere 36 minutes later, the big Carlsberg trucker decided to move his truck a bit to the side, to let all the traffic through. Probably not the quickest thinker in the world.

Now most times when I'm stuck like that, I've got stuff with me in the car to do.

But not today. I think it's called Sod's Law.

It gave me time to think. And once I'd got the Elvis Presley ranting off my chest, it struck me that our stepping out in faith is often just like that.

It would have been altogether easier simply not to have set out at all. It often feels like that.

But once we've set out there's no turning back. And sometimes the way ahead seems totally blocked as well.

These truck-that's-got-stuck-in-the-lane moments happen.

There is a way forward and out. Moses discovered that. God opened a way that Moses hadn't figured was there.

And a way opened up for me as well. By the grace of God.

Not a miracle though (mind, the fact that the Carlsberg driver moved at all, albeit over half an hour later, seemed itself, by then, something of a minor miracle): just patience.

Itself a grace from God.

Most times that's the way these caught-in-a-trap situations get resolved. Patience rather than miracle.

But however it happens, the fact of the matter is simply this - it does. There is a way forward and out. The Lord sees to that.

That's what's happening here these days in our life as the people of God.

We set out on a journey. Off to what is our equivalent of Israel's 'promised land'.

A new land, anyway. A new way of being and doing church.

And there are times en route when it feels like we're stuck in a clogged up, narrow lane.

We've burned our bridges behind us, as it were. So there's no way back.

And the way ahead seems hopelessly blocked.

By, who knows, probably the best ecclesiastical 'lagers' in the world.

As in the original sense of the word. Those who pitch their camp and barricade themselves in.