The Trouble with Translating

I have a problem with translating from one language to another. It's the same problem everyone has. There are times you can't find out what to do with a word. It doesn't fit the patterns you know; it's not in the dictionary you have; it breaks all the rules of what you have come to know as normative for translating. It just won't work. And the problem is, when I get stuck on a word, I get stuck for a long time. It can take me hours to try and work through the problem or figure out how to get around the problem. It becomes so frutstrating at times that I just give up.

• You ever get stuck?
• You ever get bogged down by a problem in your life and just can't figure out how to move beyond it?
• You ever waste an hour/a day/a week/a season of your life trying to figure something out that just wouldn't work out?
• You ever get so frustrated with getting stuck that you just give up on a project/a career/a decision/a person/ a problem?
  

Churches, Christians, believers, ministers, laity, women, men, children, and parents all get stuck. One of the reasons God put us living on dirt was to see the effects of mud and learn what it means to get stuck. When you are stuck, all the writhing around in the world will not free you from the mud. Joanie and I have been watching a show called "Man vs. Wild" where the host, Baer Gyllis, is a survivalist who goes into wilderness areas with next to nothing and finds his way out. It is all designed to teach you how to survive in the wild. More than once he has jumped into quicksand or a mud bog and taught the audience how to get out. You know how you do it? You stop wiggling. You try and relax. You work your way out slowly and calmly. You "monkey crawl" out of the mud. You use a stick if you have it, to lay on top of and try and get yourself to the surface before you attempt to extricate yourself from the muck. That's what you do when you get stuck.

So, if you are stuck translating Latin (OK, that may not be a popular problem) or facing a difficult decision (that one may be a bit more popular) all you have to do is relax (that's called praying in faith), stop wiggling around (that's called trying to solve it on your own), get on the surface (that means allowing God to bring you above the muck by his grace), and crawl your way out (that's called worshiping God when you are still stuck). Try it, you may find that can get unstuck from where you've been.