“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?
learned lots of things in the pits…but my latest pit, i’ve learned that the Glory of God trumps everything else, and HIS love for me is so deep, that HE will not allow the pits unless HIS Glory will come out of it. Learning restoration, another level of HIS amazing love for HIS children…even while HE watches our painful purification. Oh how HE loves…
You are a delight, Darla. You have punctuated the Great Truth of our sovereign Lord who will not allow anything to come into our experience lest there is a redemptive and perfecting work to be done. Lest we forget, “reign” is the emphatic portion of ‘sovereign’ and the one who confessed “though He slay me” also knew (he surely would come to know) the profound cords of love that wrap the life who is in the cistern of suffering. By such cords we know His nearness…by them we know the temporal nature of such suffering and our way of escape when the work is finished…and by them we know He is Lord of all and over all!