January 2, 2023

One of my favorite stories is about a farmer's donkey that fell into a dry well. The animal cried pitifully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do for his poor donkey. Finally, he concluded that the well was too deep, and it really needed to be covered up anyway. The farmer decided that it was not worth trying to retrieve the animal, so he asked his neighbors to help him fill in the well and bury the donkey.

They all grabbed shovels and began to toss dirt into the well. The donkey immediately realized what was happening, and he began to bray horribly. The donkey was responding the same way we would at first, but then he got quiet. A few shovel loads of dirt later, the farmer looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit the donkey's back, the donkey would shake it off and step on top of it.

As the neighbors and the farmer continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he continued to shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon the donkey shook off the last shovel full of dirt, took a step up, and walked right out of the well.

We can learn from this story. When trouble comes, if we will get still and listen, we’ll be guided toward our next steps. Just like the donkey, in order to keep pressing on, we are going to have to learn to shake off the offenses and troubles that come our way. Victory in our lives is a pile of tests and trials we are standing on, instead of lying under.

We are either overcome by our circumstances or we are overcomers of our circumstances. – Wendy Blight