The other day I came across a story about a man and his donkey. I found it fairly interesting, because the moral of the story applies to almost everyone, no matter what kind of situation they may be going through. Check it out and see if the moral of this story applies to you...

There once was a little donkey who worked on a very large farm. The donkey worked very, very hard, and he was greatly appreciated by his owner who knew he could count on him to do almost any type of job on the farm.

One day the donkey fell into an old, empty well. The farmer looked down at his donkey in the well and thought about how he was going to get his donkey out of there. Finally, with a heavy heart, the farmer decided that the only thing he could do was bury the donkey in the well. After all, the donkey was old, and trying to get him out of the well was going to be a lot of trouble. So he and several of his farm hands began to shovel dirt back into the well.

At first the donkey was very frightened and panicked, making horrible noises. After some time the donkey became silent. He realized that if he shook the dirt from off of his back, the ground under him would get higher. The men peered down into the well and saw an amazing sight. Every time they threw a shovel full of dirt into the well, the donkey simply shook it off and took a step up, until finally the well was full, and the donkey walked right out!

The moral of this story is that many times in our lives we feel like life is throwing dirt at us. Problems seem to hit is us from every direction. Many people not only feel that dirt is being thrown at them, but they feel that they are being buried alive.

But, we can use this dirt. We can use life's difficulties and obstacles we face to produce strength, wisdom, and determination in us that will help us succeed. Just as the donkey shook the dirt off of his back instead of giving up and letting himself be buried, we too should learn to shake off whatever dirt life throws our way and step up. Use the difficult things as a stepping stone to better things. When a situation that seems impossible is thrown your way, do not let it bury you. Be creative about overcoming it and be determined to make it work. With the dirt under your feet, you will have a better view in life.

"I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me." Philippians 4:13