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You are here: Home / Essays / Hermit Crab

December 21, 2016 By Ellen Pusch 8 Comments

Hermit Crab

Hermit crabs exemplify an intriguing metaphor. By nature of their scientific class, crustacean, one could assume these crabs might carry their permanent protective coverings at all times. But this is not true of hermit crabs. These soft-bellied creatures take up residence in the discarded shells of other creatures. A hermit crab will inhabit its shell until it has grown to a point where it becomes uncomfortable and it seems it is no longer feasible to stay.

At this point, it has a choice: stay or go.

To stay in the current shell means that the crab’s growth will be inhibited and that it will no longer be able to protect itself by withdrawing fully into its protective armour. The other option is to begin a dangerous voyage between point A and point B. Transition. It would be folly to remain in the current shell. What was a protective abode, right for the season, has become a growth-limiting, tight space.

Ideally, the crab has its eyes set on the next shell it will inhabit, but this is not always the case and, even when it is, there is always risk. The hermit crab must endure a season of incredible vulnerability as it leaves the ‘too small’ shell in search of its next dwelling.

How many times have I felt like a hermit crab, somewhere between point A and point B? These are the phases of life when it has becomes obvious that I can no longer stay in my current situation, but the next step remains hidden from me. This state of limbo, teetering on the precipice of change, is daunting. If I leave the safe confines of what I know in search of what is next, I’ll be completely exposed and vulnerable. Who knows how long the journey will even take? My soft, unprotected, shell-less body will be disadvantaged and open to all kinds of attack.

I contemplate whether or not it would be better to stay put, but honestly, this option, though seemingly less risky, doesn’t work either. I have grown beyond what this current place can offer or protect; it no longer fits! And so, like the hermit crab, I have to decide whether to stay safe and stop growing, or embrace vulnerability and grow. There is a quote by an unknown author that I adore and despise in equal parts: “There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone.” No sane person would choose discomfort, but turning away from growth equates to turning away from becoming who we were created to be. And so, with gritted teeth, I’ll continue to choose growth over comfort.

My transition journeys often begin with hope and determination. Though I may or may not have a sense of what is next, I begin in faith and lean hard into God’s promises. This feeling of adventure and ‘whatever it takes’ usually sustains me for a while. Though I do my best not to have concrete ideas about what it all means and how it will play out, my personality is such that there is usually a very detailed map lurking somewhere just beneath my consciousness. “Laid back” is not a descriptor that has ever been used for me, though I am learning to allow life to unfold. When the vulnerable journey between shells takes longer than anticipated, which it inevitably does, there are a couple of traps that I have learned to recognize, only by nature of having fallen into them about seven billion times.

There have been times (A LOT of times) that I, like the Children of Israel, have longed to return to a metaphorical Egypt. At least in Egypt, I knew the rules! I may have been a slave and it might have been subsistence living, but I knew what to expect and could make do with what was, even if it wasn’t always enough! My temptation partway into a journey can be to return to what I knew, to what was known and comfortable, even if it wasn’t right. Steeling myself to resist the urge, I continue moving forward.

A second stumbling block I often encounter in the interim is the desire to settle. There are times when I’ve been annoyed with God because it seemed that we were marching past perfectly good shells! “This is GOOD ENOUGH, God. Let’s stop here. I’ll be content with this!” The lure of the ‘good enough’ is almost stronger than the lure of ‘what was.’ The adage “the good is the enemy of the best” is certainly what’s at play here. Though these shells would work, they are not the end goal; not the best that the Lord has planned and purposed. One of my all-time favourite scriptures says “For the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay” (Habakkuk 2v3). In other words, hold out for the best because the promises are true! Do not settle.

As much as I would love to avoid the whole process of transition, I recognize that there is purpose in the process. Growing pains are aptly named and the aching means something is happening. It’s not a random, meaningless discomfort, but a purposeful plan that will certainly come and not delay. God is not making this up on the fly. He knows what he is doing and where he is going. He sees the end, even when I cannot. And his plans are good. No, not just good, the BEST.

And so, I allow it to unfold. I lean in and trust that he will hold me safe. I will embrace seasons of vulnerability, of feeling unmoored, of feeling homeless, of feeling exposed without my protective shell…knowing the reward will be great. The best.

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Filed Under: Essays, Seasons of Change Tagged With: Seasons of Change, Transition

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Comments

  1. Bill Parks says

    January 4, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    Ellen
    This is rich and meaningful for my life right now. I am searching and seeking to know what the next step is in my life, and far too often I run to my favourite kidding place, and far too often it is away from God rather then running to Him. I guess I have the Jonah Syndrome. Blessings, keep on writing these are such good words for my soul, and for the journey.

    Reply
    • Ellen Pusch says

      January 4, 2017 at 6:26 pm

      Bill, thank you so much for your message. I’m so glad it was meaningful for you. Praying you’ll have wisdom and courage as you say your next ‘yes.’

      Reply
  2. Sue says

    January 4, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    Sweet Ellen

    thank you❤️

    Reply
    • Ellen Pusch says

      January 4, 2017 at 8:12 pm

      xoxo

      Reply
  3. Jody Kennedy says

    January 12, 2017 at 7:43 am

    First of all, pleased to see you’ve finally made this leap from your dozens of personal journals. Thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit. Your writing is incredible and modest all at the same time. I relate (as I often do) with this descriptive and how you bring it into our own reality. I was reminded this week about one of the last times you prayed for me in person. I was going through an emotion time and you said you could visualize me laying down flat in the mud and slowly getting up. If start with lifting my face, getting on my knees, and slowly bring myself up or I was being lifted out. Ironically, I tried to place this word in my life at that time but I could not. I was making it fit but it didn’t fit. So, I thought well just because I can’t make it fit doesn’t mean it wasn’t a word for me. Well, that description popped into my mind last week and I haven’t escaped it. You may or may not know I’ve been in hospital for over a month now after a scary relapse in the neuromuscular disease. This recovery has been the slowest and one of the worst of all my previous relapses. Last week it came back to me. The funny thing is I haven’t seen you or talked to you lately to even have a trigger. I started seeing myself flat out in the mud. That’s where I was. Then I started seeing me raise my head, get on my hands and knees and very slowly and lethargically, I am rising. I’m amazed at God. He gave you that message and you just ran with it. It was more prophecy than what I was asking for prayer at that time. I’m in the mud! I was relieved and ecstatic actually to see that Word now in it’s exact purpose. I wonder if I didn’t ask for prayer that day, would I have ever received that. Thinking over that the last few days has literally been the “lifter of my head”.
    Well that was a long response but one I thought you needed confirmation on. Love you my friend.

    Reply
    • Ellen Pusch says

      January 18, 2017 at 12:40 am

      Jody!! Thank you for this. I’m so sorry to know that you’ve been ill again. Will be praying for you, friend!! xo

      Reply
  4. Carrie Mawer says

    August 24, 2018 at 12:42 am

    Thanks so much ! I read, back to back, the trio of growth pieces( dis-comfort, doors and homeless crabs)because I was feasting on their words since they’re just what I need right now. I so appreciate the encouragement!

    Reply
    • Ellen Pusch says

      August 25, 2018 at 11:46 pm

      Thank you, Carrie! Peace, joy and courage to you on your adventure. Much love to you xo

      Reply

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