"Here I Am Stuck In The Middle With You" by Pastor Kevin Lynch

Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right,
Here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.

It feels like that sometimes.

Or worse...

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Spiritually this insinuates that there is a middle ground, a gray area, a fence down the middle we can rest on.

A DMZ. Or perhaps more apt, a "Despiritualized Zone".

Yeah, that's it! That's what we're looking for...

A Despiritualized Zone.

A place where we do not have to submit or succumb to good OR evil.

A place where we can take a breather from accountability.

Well, as appealing as that may sound for some, there is no such place.

It's never the line drawn down the middle of hell on earth where we are surrounded completely by jokers and clowns, or cannons and shellshot.

There is all of that, and worse.

And God.

The line is thin and the choice is imperative.


"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15)

There is only the truth in what Jesus says in Matt. 6:24:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in)."

You cannot serve God and "whatever".

There is always something vying for your attention and favor in opposition to God.

Always.

You always have the choice to go left or right. Light or darkness. Good or evil.

Always.

You've got to choose something.

"He that is not with me is against me." (Matt. 12:30)

It's really not that laborious a task for those who have chosen Christ.

The "rest" is in Him, not on some imaginary fenceline down the middle.

There is no timeout in the human race.

Darkness and evil give us a pounding when we are undecided, and consume our souls when we lean its way.

Christ gives us rest when we exchange our heavy burden for His light yoke.

The gray area becomes erased and the struggle of good and evil become less.

There is only ever God and "whatever".

"Whatever" only pleases for a little while and fails us in the end.

God takes us the distance.

My prayer is that you go the distance today. That your soul becomes at rest in Christ, and your mind winds down more easily. That you sleep better, and your body feels strengthened and renewed. That you find the rest you have craved in Him today.

Be blessed today and run it all past Jesus first!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><