Quicksand

Perhaps you’ve seen a movie where someone unknowingly fell into quicksand and you just watched them completely disappear.  It’s a frightening and helpless situation and not just a little creepy!

But, it’s also not totally true.  According to Wikipedia, quicksand is a colloid.  (Oh, good.  Don’t you love it when you look up a word and then have to look up yet another word???)  It turns out a colloid is a mixture of “fine, granular material” (sand, silt or clay) and water.  The particles are “suspended throughout another substance.”  Thus, the quicksand forms in loose sand that is saturated so that the water cannot escape, the soil becomes liquefied and weak and can’t support weight.  It can look solid until a sudden change in pressure occurs, by something (or someone) falling or stepping into the area.  That object or person sinks to the level where the weight is the same as that of the soil/water mix and at that point, the object floats.  Basically, it means water thrusts up through the sand particles which separates them, thus making it loose and not able to support weight.  The suggestion is to move very slowly, and not panic (yea, right).

This is probably more than you wanted to know about quicksand.  But, look at the synonyms:  entanglement, noose, quagmire, snare, trap.  It’s a place that’s tough to escape.  On your own, you’re stuck.

So, then, quicksand isn’t so different from what we might call quickSAD.  Have you ever fallen into the trap of a “sinking spell”?  A feeling we often call “the blues”?  It’s like a cloud that seems to follow you.  You can’t even duck behind a tree and have it disappear; it’s still there.  How can you avoid it?  Or, get out of it?

Here are some ways given to escape:

Quicksand                                                                                     Quicksad

1. Make yourself as light as possible.                                1. Heb. 12:1- “lay aside every encumbrance..”
2. Try to take steps back.                                                     2.  2 Cor. 10:5- “take every thought captive”
3. Reach for something to pull self out.                            3.  Rom. 12:9- “Cling to what is good.”
4. Take deep breaths.                                                           4. John 14:27-“My peace I give to you.”
5. Move slowly & deliberately.                                            5. John 10:27-“My sheep hear..and follow Me.”

We have often heard that what we believe affects what we do.  Similarly, what we focus on affects our attitude and how we feel.  Paul wrote:  “Rejoice in the Lord always.”  (Philippians 4:4a)  He didn’t say “sometimes”.  Much of the time we spend in quickSAD, we are focusing on the negative.  But, Paul goes on in Phil. 4:8b to say, “if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”  Dwell.  ie, live there.  His Holy Spirit dwells (lives) within you who know Him.  Let “the joy of the Lord be your strength.”  Focus!  And, He’ll pull you right out of that quicksand.

Then. you can kiss that quickSAD “good-bye”!