Self-Pitying Pit

The pits of life- got to love those pits. I think Beth Moore said this, "God allowed Joseph to to be broken down in the pit. Your not supposed to live in the pit, but learn from it. The pit can lead to a total break down, or a total break through, but that is up to you. God is preparing you for what He has for you while you are in the pit. He is able to work with you in the pit. It's not about, 'Why me?' It is about, 'What now?'" It is about seeing how He can use you to touch others after you have been freed from your own pit.

When Joseph was 17, his brothers threw him in his first pit. He was probably pretty cocky and bragging to his brothers about his dreams and his coat. He needed to learn a little humility. Then in Genesis 39, he was sold to Potiphar where he quickly became the head of everything Potiphar owned. This was not his final pit. Through no fault of his own, he was thrown into yet another prison. Where he remained for several years. (41:46), "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt." Joseph's pit dwelling took place off and on, more in the pit than out, for thirteen years. Time after time Joseph found himself on this roller-coaster of pit dwelling and none of it was really his fault. But it was during these times that he learned about his gifts and how to lean on God no matter what.

I have been in the pits, more times than I can count. There have been the pits of my own choices and there have been the ones where it seems I was thrown in by someone else. There have been the self-pitying ones, where it just seems like God is taking care of everyone else, but wanting me to go through yet another hard time. I recently spent sometime in this self-pitying pit.

Matthew 20, "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you...'"

My self-pitying pit is one of those pits that I choose to be in. It is about looking at other people and saying, "but you gave them..., you did....for them." It is a pit that is all about looking at my sorrows, instead of my blessings. This time, it was my pit of MS. Saying, "Why wont You take this from me? Why wont You let me have this one the easy way? Instead of me having to always be the one to go the extra mile and work harder than others for just the basics in life." Why is it that when He has asked us to walk with Him, we expect Him to make it easy for us. If my MS were healed today, tomorrow I would still want more. It is not about getting out of the pit. It is all about learning to lean on God while we are still in the pit. When you are in a pit, whether because of someone else, or a choice you have made, or just because you are alive; The question we must ask is, Can we still walk with God and sing His praises, while we are in the pit? Are you a Christian, because of what you can get out of being a Christian? Or are you a Christ follower, because Christ is God? Do I love Him? I used to love Him because He got me out of a pit. Now I must love Him because He is the Almighty!