The Quagmire of Life

I thought I knew it all

I felt I could find my way

Life was not so difficult after all

Not if you live it day by day

For a while it was easy

I was simply breezing along

Everything was going as planned

Nothing really was going wrong

Then I had my first misfortune

Of those laid off, I was one

I lost my source of income

Security and salary were gone

The bills began to lag behind

They mounted up like Everest

Foreclosure stared me in the face

This was my sternest test

The car payments were overdue

By about three months or so

I did not know what to do

Since I had never been this low

Suddenly life became a quagmire

Easy street became especially tough

I could not survive this quicksand

Life had really gotten rough

Before I had lost my job

I was up to my neck in debt

But to me that didn’t matter

In this job I was really set

The salary was terrific

I could service all my loans

So since money was no problem

For me money had set the tone

But life’s quagmire assailed me

And in a flash I lost my step

I should have heeded the proverb

I should have looked before I leapt

  

A word of warning to all of you

Especially that through life breeze

Life can suddenly become a quagmire

And bring an abrupt end to your ease

An occurrence like the lost of a job

Or the loss of a supportive one

Can place your life in a vice-like grip

That makes it difficult to move on

I caution, don’t take life for granted

Tomorrow is never sure

It matters not that you are well today

Life’s quagmire could be at the door

Yes life is certainly a quagmire

Though the terrain is easy at times

But it can change in just a moment

And put you into steep decline

One misfortune follows another

And life gets too difficult to cope

So that many a disillusioned traveller

Has expired on the end of a rope

I recommend to you, Jesus

A sure guide for the quagmire of life

The only certainty for life’s uncertainties

A certain overcomer whatever the strife

Stewart Russell © January 2018