Stuck in the Briar Patch

Disneyland is home to some of the most family-friendly rides in the country, as I discovered for the first time approximately a year and a half ago. However, there is one ride that is both fun and yet terrifying; it's called Splash Mountain. This ride follows the story of Briar Rabbit, a rabbit who caused much mischief to the point where he gained a couple of enemies by the names of Briar Fox and Briar Bear. To "get even" with him, Briar Fox and Briar Bear set up a trap in a tar pit, caught the silly rabbit, and then tossed Briar Rabbit into the briar patch. The Disneyland ride lets the riders experience both the little bouts of easy, laid-back fun, but then throws them on a steep, high, and thrilling plummet, similar to Briar Rabbit's fall into the briar patch.

Last September when I rode on the ride with a group of my friends, I told my friend, Andrew, who was in front of me that I was terrified. He told me that I could probably get out and walk out, but I told him, "No. I have to do this." Although I was afraid, I completed the ride, and it was okay in the end. Just as Briar Rabbit made it out of the briar patch and was free of his enemies, the end of the ride portrayed a group of happy critters singing that famous song, "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah," and the rest of the ride was easy sailing.

We pass through trying times: physical illness, economical failure, job loss, mental disorders, lack of self-esteem, educational failure, just to name several. We may gain enemies when we try to stand up for what we believe in or when we want to live our lives differently than those around us. We can get stuck in some tar when we are unwise in our decision-making. Maybe we'll skip the tar, but we'll still find ourselves thrown into our own briar patch: the trials, the pain, the failures. Yes, all of us at some time in our lives will be thrown in, but the briar patch, I believe, is not just a representation of the negative but also a representation of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was the briar patch, after all, that helped Briar Rabbit become clean of the tar and be free once again.

Just like as with trusting the employees at Disneyland to make sure riding Splash Mountain follows all safety precautions, we need to continually put our trust in Jesus Christ AND in ourselves to make it through those scary moments and keep moving forward. Christ will not fail us and He will clean the sticky tar off of us so that we can come out of the briar patch once more.