Life in the Pits

Chuckle: "A little boy told his pastor he was giving up something: His Mom was giving up candy; his Father ice cream, and he was giving up squash!"

Quote: "When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!" --Will Rogers

"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" (Psalm 40:1-3 NIV).

Erma Baumbeck once said: "If life is a bowl of cherries, how come I'm always in the pits?" A good question! Are there times when you feel everything is going wrong? Do you feel depressed at times with the hand you have been dealt in life? Are you discouraged because of physical limitations? Are your circumstances causing an attitude of despair? If so, you have a lot of company -- many feel, or have felt, this way.

There are two basic kinds of pits: those that come upon us and those we dig for ourselves. We do well to examine the reasons we are in the pits. We are all subject to such feelings from time to time, but for Christians, there is a solution -- God can deliver you. From Psalm 40, the psalmist David shares with us how God lifted him out of a terrible situation in his life. What can we learn from our passage?

When we find ourselves in the pits, wait on God in an attitude of faith and expectancy. Notice how David waited patiently on the Lord to help him in his time of need. The Hebrew word for "waited" means to wait with hope and expectation. This is a picture of "tip-toe" expectation, not "finger-tapping" impatience. We are an impatient people who want everything right now, if not sooner! We might be praying something like this: "Lord, give me patience and give it to me right now!"

God always has a purpose for making us wait for his timing. He wants us to exchange our strength for his. "But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31 NLT). While David waited, God was strengthening and shaping and him for future service.

Waiting for God to help us is not easy, but David received at least four clear benefits from waiting. God (1) changed his attitude and lifting him out of his despair; (2) gave him a sense of security by setting his feet on solid ground; (3) gave him new strength and steadied him as he walked, and (4) filled his heart with joy and put a new song of praise in his mouth. There is no better place than the pits for God to get our attention, test our patience, and force us to wait upon Him with optimistic expectations.

Love, Jerry & Dotse