Lessons from the Pit

Psalm 88:1-4, 6-7

O LORD, God of my salvation;

I cry out day and night before you.

Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength

You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

Each morning after breakfast our children have some time to read their Bibles quietly before we start with our time of prayer and singing and then start our Bible lesson together. We call this personal quiet time Bible On Your Bed Time because it gives a specific name to the specific place and activity they should be doing - just in case they forget and get distracted on their way. Our church hands out one-year Bible reading planners each year and the kids are excited to participate by reading a small portion of this plan as they are able. Some of the children only participate by reading the Psalms & Proverbs portion, while others with stronger reading abilities add reading the gospels as well. We talk about it afterwards in case they have any questions. It has been a very good tool for them.

Since I am almost always directing or redirecting children during their Bible on Your Bed Time, I always try to read the day's passages early in the morning when I get up with Nic in the early morning hours. It is so much nicer to enjoy God's Word for my heart while sipping coffee in the quiet hours of the morning than when I'm running between four beds answering questions about wrath, sin, and abundant grace.

Yesterday I was deeply impacted by Psalm 88 that has a title of I Cry Out Day and Night Before You. It just seemed to sit heavy on my heart, like I was carrying around a hot and heavy stone. I know that place. That pit is familiar. Even though we are not in it any longer, we lived there for a time. I used to fear and loathe that pit of helplessness. And yet, there was something comforting in reading such sorrow and grief, knowing that even when we were in that pit and crying out, we had been held by God and His steadfast love never consumed us.

When we gathered again after Bible on Your Bed Time, I was surprised to hear my youngest daughter volunteer her favorite verse of Psalm 88. Often they will recall a favorite verse or part of a passage, but Psalm 88 is kind of the pits. (Pun intended.) I didn't imagine any of the children would find a favorite verse. Instead she had incredible insight for such a young child and it resonated with my heart.

Psalm 88:15

Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

What my sweet, young child pointed out is that when we are helpless we are able to see how powerful and mighty God is and that only He can help us. This was such a sweet lesson for our hearts from our time in the pit. Not one moment of that hard season was wasted because we were held by God and taught by God.

In the end of this season in the pit, we have learned to treasure Christ more and it has been precious. On Sunday, our pastor shared a sermon from John 8:31, "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.'" It was precious Truth about God's grace in the lives of true believers that sustains them to abide, remain, and persevere in His Word, even - especially - in our helplessness. You can read, watch or listen to the sermon from this link at Hope in God.

Most people spend lots of time striving to get out of the pits of life and for good reason. There are some good lessons that we can only learn from being in the pit. I hope that I don't waste them.