How to Make Your Way Out of Tight Places

I was on the inside seat of an airplane recently.  It’s my least favorite place.  On top of that, I tried in vain to pull my sweater off.  I felt trapped, really trapped, in a “tight place.”

Are you in a tight place financially, emotionally, or relationally? 

Here are some good thoughts that will definitely help you get out of that “jam”:

1.   A tight place is a phobia.

Claustrophobia is a well-known fear of tight places.  Being confined and pressed in causes anxiety and panic.  It is a natural fear most of us deal with. 

The opposite of anxiety is rest.  This worked well for me once in an MRI test I had done.  I closed my eyes and let my mind think on wide open sky, plains, and visibility.  I even almost went to sleep!

2.  A tight place is a shortage.

We call money that is insufficient “tight.”  There is not enough money for the bare necessities of life.

The cure I have found for “tight money” is “margin.”  “Give, save, live.”  Give 10%, save 10%, live on the rest.

3.  A tight place is a pressure. 

Most of our pressure comes from “time.”  We run behind schedule and have a “tight deadline.” 

Build in at least 15 extra minutes to every destination.  Take the earlier flight for a connection and relax between flights. 

Don’t go to Wal-Mart while your cake is in the oven!  TOO TIGHT. 

4.  A tight place is a crowd.

Why are we DRAWN to a crowd then become miserable when we get SQUEEZED into that crowd?  We want to be where the action is, but…we become uncomfortable at the lack of personal space.

Shop in uncrowded stores.  Eat at uncrowded restaurants.  Go to movies at uncrowded times.  There are always uncrowded options if you are not intent on “being with the crowd.”

5.  A tight place is an uncomfortable relationship.

We see a person we don’t get along with and want to run.  We would rather “head for the side door” than to get into an uncomfortable “head to head” with them. 

Life is too short for uncomfortable relationships.  Forgive them.  Turn them over to God.  Even pray for them!  Purpose that if you ever are placed alongside them again your first response will be civil and friendly.

6.  A tight place is an impossible situation.

It may be a medical condition that science has no hope for.  It may be a bad marriage that counselling has no answer for. 

“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble” (Hebrew, “tight places”).

Jesus calmed the storm in the time of trouble.  Moses opened the Red Sea in the time of trouble. 

Are you in a time of trouble today?  It may LOOK impossible, but God is the God of the impossible.

He can find your child.  He can open the door to that perfect job.  He can heal that severed relationship. 

He is the “God of TIGHT PLACES.”