Category: Trusting God

The Work of the Pit

“They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.”
(Jeremiah 38:6, NIV)

“The Lord corrects the people He loves and disciplines those He calls His own.”
(Hebrews 12:6, CEV)

“But God corrects us for our own good, because He wants us to be holy, as He is.”
(Hebrews 12:10b, CEV)

“It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful…”
(Hebrews 12:11a, CEV)

“…but later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
(Hebrews 12:11b, ESV)

“It hasn’t been much fun, but the work that it has done in my life has made it worth the hurt.”
–from The Fire, by Deb (Jackson) Searles

“Trials are not an elective in the Christian life, they are a required course. Patience is accepting a difficult situation without giving God a deadline.”
(C.S. Lewis)

I mean, what kind of God…?

Really? When I’m already in a valley?

This pit? Are you kidding me?

Talk about insult to injury.

I repeat: what kind of God responds to the helpless cry of a person already at the end of their rope by saying “let go” only to drop them into a deeper well?

But for the grace of God, that could’ve been my attitude.

But on today, of all days, there’s something I want to say. I discovered something a few months ago. A refresher course, if you will. I learned that while I do not like the pit, I am loyally in love with the work of the pit.

As it happens, today is Saturday.

A year ago this very day, the sky was overcast with a dull, newspaper gray.  

Today is bright, sunny and rife with speechless beauty.

Last year I was the sickest I have ever been in my life.

Today I am whole, healthy and spectacularly alive. Soli deo gloria!

Last year, on this day, I was in a spiritual valley. As I recorded in my journal back then, “Bring peace, Lord. I am blessed you are there, Lord, to listen to and succor me in this dark valley. I confess I am helpless without You. Without You, I am dead. You are Life. Power. Supply. Resurrection. Peace. Everything.”

(All the things I would need Him to be, in short order.)

But that was then; this is now. Today, a year later, I stand astride a mountain peak, breathing in celestial air, resurrection life, keeping the pipes hot with songs of deliverance. I’m worshipping to the song I listened to a year ago–before I fell past a valley and into a pit.

I know I’m loved
I know I’m wanted
(I don’t want to insult the cross by not believing in Your Love)
I want to stare at the Face of Jesus
Look in His Eyes once more
Worship Him with all of my heart
For His Love is pounding on my door!

Then it was an assumption, today it is proof of life. Back then it was a truth, but now it’s THE Truth I have forever.

Once upon a time it was a doctrine I would die for. Now it is a blessing I live for.

What lesson have I discovered down there? It’s pretty cool. And I give it to you for free: The work of the pit has made it possible to experience another realm of glory, a new vista that amazes; it’s like I’ve gone from analog to digital, from standard definition to HD.

And getting more HD all the time.

But that’ll probably take some more pits. Or valleys. Or both.

Sorry, George Takei. Quattron may be the television we all just have to have, but my “oh my!” trumps yours, as good as yours is.

Eye has not seen…

Yes, that’s true.

But…

“these things God has revealed to us through His Spirit”
(1 Cor. 2:10)

If we’re teachable.

If we have ears to hear.

What have you learned in your pit?

Selah: An Active Rest

Selah. Say-lah.

While the Hebrew word is difficult to translate, most believe it is a musical term that means “pause” or “interlude.” I’ve also read that it could be a worship leader’s direction to change the tempo. For instance, to have the instruments and singers  s l o w  d o w n,  or, in some cases, pick up the cadence. If you dig even deeper, you find the word is also understood to encourage reflection. Like the applause sign in a live studio’s taping session, some suppose it signals to the listener “there is something hidden here; do not miss it…listen very carefully…”

Oh, and a really neat tidbit about “selah” is that it is used in thirty-nine of the Psalms, which is, as you well know, equal to the number of books in the Old Testament. And what is the Old Testament? It is the history of the people of Israel that is written down for our benefit and teaching. You’ll find that hidden little gem of a truth in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

Twice.

Look it up.

The point I am making is that we have been called to a “selah” life. Sometimes we pause. Sometimes we pick up the pace. At times we rest overnight. At other times, we park at the foot of the mountain for a year or so. We sing (“alamoth” at the beginning of Psalm 46 is thought to indicate a choir solo for all the sopranos), we dance, we bow, we kneel. When our Director tells us, we pack up our tents and get a move on. And when He tells us otherwise, we make camp and get our groove on. There is marching and there is standing still. He speaks and we listen or He is silent and we wait.

Right about now some of you are moving into an “aha!” moment. You’re thinking, This is starting to sound like hearing and following the Voice of God and you would be right. Life is way too harsh and unforgiving to attempt on our own. Three million (or more) people moving as one through the desert can get noisy and distracting, so you can see how weekly sabbaths and daily selahs can turn a march into a journey. Likewise, as you and I journey through life, we must be constantly attuned to those inner prickings and promptings from the Holy Spirit:

“Make camp here for awhile. I have something I want to teach you.”

“There is an enemy afoot. Be on guard.”

“Turn here.”

“You need to let go of that. It will be a snare. Give it to Me.”

“You need to spend some time today with her. I will give you words that will encourage her.”

“Wake up. There is much to do.”

The “selah” life is the Spirit-led life. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons and daughters of God,” the Apostle Paul says. As we pass through this wilderness on the way to Promise, every step walked in faith is a lyric to the Almighty. Every mile is a stanza of praise. Two or three walking together is a church hymn. Tribes and nations journeying as one is a cantata that the angels want to add to their repertoire. As for me, I cannot wait until the grand finale: the Hallelujah chorus!

Selah.

    7O God, when You went forth before Your people,
         When You marched through the wilderness, Selah.
    8The earth quaked;
         The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
          Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
                                                                           Psalm 68:7,8