A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule.The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule braying and, after carefully assessing the situation, sympathized with the mule. He decided however, that neither the mule nor the well were worth the trouble of saving. Instead he called his neighbours together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical. But as the farmer and his neighbours continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up ! This he did, blow after blow.

"Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up !" No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought against panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up. It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly out of the well.

Do you sometimes feel that you are in a deep hole ? And what's more, do you feel that somebody just keeps throwing dirt on you ? You can turn the bad to good by looking up and seeing that the Lord is there through it all. Take His hand. Ask Him to pull you up and to help you see His purpose in it all. He can help you see the events around you from His perspective. He can give you His calm and stop the panic. And then He can help you find solutions that will enable you to step triumphantly out of that deep well and onto the path of a brighter tomorow.

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