It’s really amazing how fast kids grow up. It is a fun season in my daughter’s life as I watch her begin to establish her independence in certain areas and only look to Mommy for guidance when she can’t quite make something work on her own.  One such area is getting dressed.  This has presented the greatest challenge on Sundays when more clothing and foundations are required in getting dressed. Putting on stockings has been the greatest challenge of all.  I noticed that once I assist my daughter in getting her feet in the stockings, she gets eager and starts pulling on the stockings from the very top.  I have found myself continuously saying, “You have to start from the bottom, then pull your way up.”

With only her feet in the stockings and the majority of the weight still remaining around her ankles, pulling on the top will only cause a major stretch or resistance in the middle, and usually result in “ruins” or holes in the stockings.

In life, our ability to rise above our circumstances often requires the same consideration.  We often have a tendency to pull up from the top, (which represents the places we can see with ease and with no soul searching or examining of ourselves) without assessing the effect of all of the weights remaining at the bottom.  Often times if we are honest, we can’t even carry the weight of our “rock bottom” situations alone.  Praise God, we don’t have to.

“He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and clays.  He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure.” (Psalm 40:2, God’s Word Translation)  Pull- to exert force on someone or something by taking hold of them in order to move or try to move them toward oneself or the origin of the force. God will meet us in the very bottom places of our situations and by any means necessary take hold of us to get us to the place where He is and the place where we can best be used by Him and for His glory.

There is a beauty in our rock bottom experiences.  Knowing that the only way remaining is up.  Don’t try to start in the middle where it may look easy or familiar to pull up and begin again.  Get in the mud, get to the bottom and accept it for what it is-your authentic starting place.  Then begin right there- to pull your way up!