The Pits in Life

Feel like the pits?  Feel like you fallen into one?  Feel like you are never going to make it out of that pit alive?

You are not the first person!

When I was interning as a children's pastor while in Brockville, we sang a VBS song that still sticks with me to this day.  The song was called "Let's go from the Pit to the Palace".  And that my friends is the topic I would like to speak to you about today.

Let's take a look at the story of Joseph and glean from the pages of our Heavenly Father's Word to learn all that we can about what it is really like to feel like the pits!  Joseph was literally thrown into a pit by his brothers, leaving his own father to believe him for dead.  Joseph was given a dream destiny, so how could this have happened?  We will look at that a bit further ahead.  For right now, I want to focus on how we seem to get ourselves into these pits.

Why as Christians do we often find ourselves in pits?  I believe that it's because we live in a sinful world.  They are the by product of a fallen world.  Jesus says in John 16:33, "In the world you will have tribulation".  Some pits are just a part of life.  You didn't ask to be thrown into one, but because we live in a world that is corrupt with sin, it is a side effect of that consequence.

You have heard me say that playing the blame game is helpful to no one, except maybe when we can take ownership of our own actions.  It is the same when we are trying to figure out a reason as to why we have fallen into this pit in life.  It didn't happen by mistake... God doesn't make mistakes.  Time to suck it up butter cup... we made a wrong turn somewhere!

We have to understand the reason we are in this place is because of the problems within our own heart.  Joseph had envious brothers who wanted him dead and that is why they threw him in the pit and a lot of you could say that it was their fault that he found himself there.  However, that is not the case.  Joseph was being tested and due to his pride he found himself in the pit.  You may feel as though all is lost when you find yourself in a pit, but if you call out to God, He will restore you.

When you fall into a pit, the enemy is quickly there to feed your mind with lies.  Lies that will make you feel belittled, unworthy, hopeless, unloved and not wanted.  He will be there at all times trying to prove to you that you are right where you ought to be.  He will even use the Lord as tool to bring you down.  He will try and tell you that God has forgotten about your, or left you.  But we know that is not true for the word of God tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5).  He will tell you that God no longer cares about you, loves you, or wants you to step out of this pit.  Don't believe these lies, as that is all that they are.  Find your identity in Christ and call out to the Lord with humility of heart and you will be restored.  We are commanded to resist him (James 4:7).  What a good God we serve!

One thing to remember also is that the enemy even uses evidence to convince us of his lies.  That is how Joseph's father came to believe that his son was dead.  When Joseph's brothers threw him in the pit, they took his precious coat of colours, soaked it with animal blood and brought it back to his father.  So with the coat and the lies of his brothers, the enemy was able to plant seeds of doubt and lies so that his father would believe Joseph was killed by animals.  The enemy is not stupid, he knows how our fears work and how best to prey on them.  Be careful of your words, not only man can use them against you!!

One thing you must understand is that there is a huge difference from the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the accusatory nature of satan.  Conviction comes from the Lord, He does not accuse.  It gives us hope, not despair.

Every single one of us may fall into a pit at some point in our lives.  The question we must answer is are we going to allow ourselves to stay there and die, or pick up our cross and walk daily?  We are destined to go from "the pit to the palace", who would think a simple children's song could hold such truths??  What a creative and loving God we have!!

Blessings,

Pastor Dana-Renee

*Personal study notes and devotions from Roger Morris