Between A Rock And A Hard Place Book Pdf Free

[Muredac Ford]

I sat in disbelief as my doctor explained the results of my ultrasound. "There's a large cyst with tentacles that has consumed your left ovary," she explained. "We need to schedule surgery as soon as possible. In my expert opinion, there's a 70% chance you may have ovarian cancer."

While my body felt numb, my mind raced with unanswered questions: What does this mean for me and my family? How will I get through this?

I felt completely alone and helpless. With no good choice in sight, I was between a rock and a hard place, with no way out.

Have you ever found yourself there, stuck without options? Maybe you're there now. It's a difficult, lonely, hurting place. For me, it's a familiar place. I was there when my first husband died, when finances were insufficient and as my health faltered.

During that time of waiting for surgery, I found comfort in Jacob's story. Tucked in the book of Genesis, Jacob found himself in a difficult place. He had stolen the family's inheritance from his brother, Esau. Once Esau realized what Jacob had done, he was out to get him. Literally. So Jacob had no choice but to leave home.

Our key verse explains that Jacob had a full day of travel, and "When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep" (Genesis 28:11).

I find it remarkable that Jacob was able to lay his head on a stone and go to sleep after he had been uprooted and was running for his life. Jacob was out of his comfort zone. He was in a hard, cold place instead of his warm, comfortable bed.

When cancer was likely, I had a restless night of tossing and turning. It was challenging for me to lay my concerns down on a soft pillow and go to sleep, but not for Jacob. He took a stone and put it under his head and slept. How? How could Jacob sleep unless his security was found in something other than his ability to outrun his pursuers?

Perhaps Jacob knew a Rock that was more than a solid mineral. Maybe Jacob saw his rock as the Rock of Ages. How else could he lay his head and all his fears on a rock if it were not God the Rock as described in Psalm 18:2?

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (NIV)

What an amazing truth: God is our Rock!

This means when you and I find ourselves "between a rock and a hard place," we can transform that experience from being stuck between a rock to resting on the Rock.

After reading about Jacob, I decided to change my perspective. Instead of viewing my position as being between a rock and a hard place, I envisioned myself resting on Christ the Rock and leaving all my cares there.

On the day of my surgery, I was at peace. The nurses noticed my calm disposition. I was resting on my Rock.

When the surgery was over, I awoke to good news. The cyst was benign! I'm thankful it turned out well. But even if it hadn't, I would still find peace and rest in my Rock.

Friend, I hope when you feel yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place, you'll see it as Christ the Rock. Then you can lay down your head and find rest in that hard place.

Dear Lord, thank You for being my Rock, my shield, safety and salvation in troubled times. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

***

What is the origin and definition of the expression "caught between a rock and a hard place"? I also heard it in a situation where it could have had a jocose double sense, but I may have misunderstood.

The expression is used when there is a dilemma or only two equally difficult decisions. It can be implied where there is a mandatory to make a choice between at least two unpleasant choices.

The origin, according to Phrases Dictionary, is derived from an economic issue where workers face underpaid wages ( a rock) and unemployment (hard place). The full version of the story can be found in the reference.

Other origin worths mentioned is the Greek mythology "Between Scylla and Charybdis", where Odysseus has to take a route between six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. For further reading on Wikipedia.

The 'recent panics' referred to in that citation are undoubtedly the events surrounding the so-called US Bankers' Panic of 1907. This financial crisis was especially damaging to the mining and railroad industries of the western states.

In 1917 the lack of funding precipitated by the earlier banking crisis led to a dispute between copper mining companies and mineworkers in Bisbee, Arizona. The workers, some of whom had organized in labour unions, approached the company management with a list of demands for better pay and conditions. These were refused and subsequently many workers at the Bisbee mines were forcibly deported to New Mexico.

If these miners, mostly destitute and with only their clothes on their backs, were the source of the expression, then between a rock and a hard place was on a tight schedule to reach other American speakers, even one in the same state.

So when could Sgt. Williams have heard the expression, used it himself, at the same time changing its meaning from bankruptcy to what it generally means today: trapped with either no options or only bad ones?

Barring some random encounter with an American admirer, the most logical hypothesis is that Buchan remembered hearing it from American soldiers like Sgt. Williams during the war and placed it in the mouth of one of his characters in The Courts of the Morning as something his British readers would imagine is an Americanism. His American readers, at least any he had in Texas, would wonder what the hell do a bunk meant.

Being between Scylla and Charybdis is an idiom deriving from Greek mythology, meaning "having to choose between two evils". Several other idioms, such as "on the horns of a dilemma", "between the devil and the deep blue sea", and "between a rock and a hard place" express similar meanings.

It would appear (from the OED) that they entered English metaphor in about the sixteenth century. I can remember a time when people would say "between Scylla and Charybdis" to mean exactly what between a rock and a hard place means today.

My understanding of this phrase is completely different from the commonly accepted one. I first heard this as a phrase to exemplify euphemism. In that, you can refer to a rock as a "hard place " to avoid using the more blunt term "rock". The way I originally heard this phrase was "It's like the difference between a rock and a hard place ". That would indicate euphemism, not difficult choices. I think it has been usurped by those who found it a convenient way to express a dilemma. As others have pointed out, it doesn't make sense as an idiom expressing a dilemma .

It was explained to me one that the term comes from medieval torture, where one was placed on the ground with a large sharp rock beneath your spine. A heavy reinforced door was placed over you and slowly laden with weights which would slowly crush you, but possibly not before the agony of having you spine broken or severed by the rock. Neither ourcome desirable, ergo the modern saying. The term 'place' has somehow been drived from slang for door over centuries wheras the term rock has remained constant in language so has not changed. You could imagine a particularly sadistic executioner allowing victims to live with severed spines, knowing that in such an era this would in many cases be a way of extending the torture over a considerably longer period as paraplegics would not have fared well in such times.

Sometimes, it becomes a way of life, especially if you question the status quo or have a creative mind or a wandering or entrepreneurial spirit. For instance, if you are not concerned about being politically correct because you prefer to have your own opinions, you may find yourself between a rock and a hard place if you are offered a much-needed job which might go against your values.

This was a place I despised and cursed, complained and whined about. Living in this isolated place between hard and challenging decisions can be disheartening to those who are focused on how lonely or hard it is. At a time when most people are retiring and enjoying the fruits of their labors, I found myself rebuilding my life and future after several life challenges including divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, and betrayal by many who I had trusted more than I should.

What I learned as I healed, is that I had trusted others to determine my identity and worth and had allowed them to make decisions for me in the false hope that they would care for me as much as I cared for them. The lessons learned in a lifetime are many, and if we allow ourselves to be open to new perceptions, a great deal of the richness of life can and will be redeemed. The alternative is to regret and grieve for that which we believe we have lost.

During a season of hating that dreaded place of being in the middle of difficult decisions and desiring to be anywhere but where I was, my oldest son and his wife invited me to come and join them for a fun vacation at an aptly named resort by the name of Fun Valley. Many wonderful memories had been made there with their children and they wanted to include me in their next vacation.

Once again, I found myself not being able to fully participate due to a broken toe, and a vehicle that was quickly falling apart and would be unsafe for the long drive. As luck would have it, my mechanic helped me make arrangements with a rental car, and my son purchased a walking stick for me when we arrived.

Its trunk was thick and its roots twisted and gigantic. My grandson, Jake, was with me on my adventure and started climbing up the roots towards the trunk, which he was not able to reach. As my eyes traveled upwards I was struck with the amazing fact of why this tree was the healthiest tree on the mountain.

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