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| photo credit Barnes and Noble |
Have you ever found yourself in a pit? Literally or figuratively; I suppose both are possible. I've never been in a literal pit, unless you count the time I backed Doug's truck into a ditch.... But that's a whole different post!
I have been in my share of emotional pits. We're not just talking down in the dumps, feeling sorry for myself pits. We're talking hopelessly, depressingly STUCK with no idea how to get out. Sometimes I don't know how I even got there, let alone how to get out.
Beth Moore is a Bible teacher and author of many books (really good ones at that!). I just re-read her book "Get out of that Pit" which was re-released for its 10th anniversary. I was reminded that there are are several ways to know that you're not just stuck in a rut, but that you are IN a pit.
Do you feel stuck? Just plain ol' stuck. Like you just can't get motivated? Then you might be in a pit. If you've ever been in a mud-hole or even a deep pile of snow, you KNOW what it's like to be stuck. I have literally pulled off a shoe walking through the mud. I'm sure as a kid I've lost many a boot to Michigan winters as well!
Do you feel like you've lost your vision? You know, "the thing" that used to get you out of bed every morning? Well, you might be in a pit.
So how did you and I get into our pits? Beth Moore tells us there are 3 ways to get into our pits:
First of all, you can get thrown in. Think of Joseph in the Bible. His brothers threw him into a literal pit and left him for dead! How can you or I get thrown in? Think of abuse as a child. Or maybe being abandoned by a spouse, leaving you a single parent. Maybe, like me, you've been diagnosed with an incurable disease.
Secondly, you can slide into a pit. Maybe you never really meant for that "friendship" with the opposite sex to go there...it was supposed to be just harmless flirting.
Third, you can jump right into your pit, Yup. Feet first, head first, whichever, you just jump. Think of David in the Bible. He saw Bathsheba, he lusted after her, and he slept with her, even thought he KNEW she was married. Then he had her husband murdered. Pretty big pit there if you ask me. Maybe you've never had an affair or killed anyone. Maybe you have; who am I to judge? You may also be a recovering addict; 10 years sober. And you decide to have just one drink to celebrate. To prove to yourself that you can do it. The next thing you know you're totally wasted and have just become a pit-dweller.
But just like most stories in the Bible, there is HOPE! Our God will not leave us in the pit if we ask for help.
"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 upon 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
Beloved, God loves you SO much He will do and/or allow *anything*, and I mean ANYTHING to get your attention, and get you back on the road to Him. He loves us with a love difficult to understand. And God does not want us living in a pit. But we have to ask for His help.
Are you in a pit? Do you want out? Beth Moore gives us the way out in her book "Get out of that Pit". The answer is really quite simple: Cry out to God. Look back at the passage of Scripture... God will hear your cry!
From the back cover: "It is Beth's stirring message of the sheer hope, utter deliverance...and complete and glorious freedom of God."
You can purchase this book at Barnes and Noble
You can also purchase it at Christian Book Distributors
I received this book free in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.
