Get Out of That Pit

A week or so ago, as God began stirring my heart to push through this desert season, I really felt led to read the book Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore. Now, I had the honor of sitting under Beth Moore for three years each Sunday in her Sunday school class, so when this book came out I honestly didn't give it much thought. I figured that it contained a message that I had probably heard in the course of my time in her class. Add to that the fact that at the time the book was released I had about zero motivation or energy to address my current state. As always, God's timing is perfect, and I have found that Beth's message in this book was (surely) written for me for this exact time. Beth begins the book with the following scripture:

"I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord."
- Psalm 40:1-3

As I read the scripture my heart quickened. Oh....this was going to be good! "Pits" are not uncommon. In fact they are more common then we would care to say. Even if you don't feel like you are in a pit now, you may know someone who is or find yourself in one in the future. The following is a summary of what I've learned so far:

There are a couple of important things to know about a pit:

1. A "pit" is not a physical place, but a "shadowy home of the heart, mind, and soul so close and personal that, like mud on the set of tires, we drag it along wherever our physical circumstances move us".

2. Many Christians "mistakenly characterize pits only in terms of sin". A pit of sin is not the only type of pit that you can be in.

You know that you're in a pit when:

1. You feel stuck
- "Isaiah 42:22 says that a pit is a place where you feel trapped."
- " Psalm 40 adds to the characteristics of a pit words like "slimy", "muddy", "miry". Together these words tell us one critical thing about a pit: you can't get yourself out."

2. You can't stand up
- "One way you can know you're in a pit is that you feel ineffective and utterly powerless against attack."
- "...your enemy has a tremendous investment not only in digging and camouflaging a pit in your pathway but also, should you tumble down, in convincing you to stay there after you fall in."
- "To the ancient Hebrew, a pit was a literal or figurative reference to the grave-to its threat-or an abyss so deep the dweller within it felt like the living dead."

3. You've lost vision
- "A pit is so poorly lit we can no longer see things that may have once been obvious to us. That's another reason we often stay in a pit. Without windows we're convinced we have no where else to go."
- "We feel too buried in our present state to feel passionate about a promised future."

The three ways that you can end up in a pit:

1. You can be thrown in
- This is a pit of innocence, meaning that you didn't do anything to deserve it and you didn't wallow your way into it.
- Many believers don't know that this kind of pit exists
- For example: Tragedy, illness, abandonment, death of a loved one, cheating spouse...(the list is long) can throw you into a pit

2. You can slip in
- This is a pit you put yourself into, although you didn't mean to. It's not planned and it's not something that you wanted to do.
- For example: You needed relief from your back pain; you didn't mean to develop an addiction to pain killers. You wanted to lose a little weight; you didn't meant to end up with an eating disorder. You meant to pay back to borrowed money right away; you didn't mean to end up on a mountain of debt.

3. You can jump in
- This is the place where you know what you are about to do is wrong, but your desire to jump in outweighs your judgement not to.
- For example: You wanted to steal the money, wanted to have the affair, wanted to hurt that person...

So, this is what I've read so far. Personally, I've established that I am in a pit. I have been attempting to live in my pit for two years. I think at one point I even tried to hang curtains up in it! I live in pit number one; the pit you fall into. My battle with UC threw me into a pit that I never even knew existed. The great thing that I have recently discovered though is that God never intends us to live in the pit! Thank you Lord! We can get out....I'll let you know when I've read how!