Don’t Quit in the Pit

Wish I could take credit for the saying – Don’t Quit in the Pit – but I heard it on a Life Church podcast. I googled and there is even a book! I am personally in the pit right now. 2020 wasn’t easy but 2021 has been even “hot messier”. I won’t go into all of the details but I lost my mom this year, am dealing with trauma, and continuing to struggle in my relationship with my daughter. And yesterday, I tripped over the carpet cleaner’s hose as they were cleaning at my mom’s house and broke my foot. Apparently, I broke it in just the right place that they are probably going to have to do surgery. This is not going to go well for an OCD exerciser. Am I oversharing? Probably. But for some reason, I continue to feel led to share my struggles with others. We all have problems (and may even be in the pit) at different points in our lives. Although, most of us like to paint a different picture with our social media personas.

Would you like to join my pity party? If I’m honest, I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed and discouraged. Maybe you too feel like you are stuck right now and can’t get to where you want or need to be. Let’s explore how we can climb out of this slimy, muddy pit together.

Psalm 40 shares a beautiful picture of God’s deliverance.

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;
and 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 the Lord,
and put their trust in him.

In this Psalm, David shares what he does when he needs divine help. He remembers God’s past mercies and then he cries out to God for more mercy in his present time of need. This is a great model to help us learn to walk with Christ during trials. Remembering gives hope and builds faith; crying out to Him puts words to our needs and welcomes His timely grace.

And notice that, in the first verse, it says “he waited patiently”. Yikes! I personally am not too good at that. This indicates that there might be a long time between our cries to God and our rescue from the pit. So, we must learn to wait patiently.

In 2 Corinthians 1:10, Paul said,

“He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us…”

I am going to continue to remember, cry out, and wait patiently. He will help me through this – and He will help you too. In His perfect timing, He will deliver us from the pit.