When You’re Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

There’s a legendary story from the Korean War about General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller. His battalion of Marines found themselves completely surrounded by enemy forces—outnumbered 29 to 1, outgunned, and out of options.

Instead of panicking, Chesty declared: “They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29 to one. They can’t get away from us now.”

He and his men fought their way out while losing very few soldiers.

Most of us would panic in impossible situations like that. When we feel surrounded and pressed in on every side, when every path seems like the wrong choice, we tend to panic, retreat, or give up.

But the apostle Paul had a different perspective: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down, but not destroyed.”

Continue reading → Do Not Fear Impossible Situations