In The Pit
2008-05-11

Apparently, the D-land server was down this morning, so I�m putting my journal on Word, and I will insert it into the site later.


Psalm for today: 6

�Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?� Verse 4-5



Day 152

Lamentations 3:52-58

These could possibly be the words that Jeremiah was thinking while he was stuck in the mud in the pit in Jeremiah 38.

Enemies with no reason to be enemies hunted me down like a bird.
They threw me into a pit, then pelted me with stones.
Then the rains came and filled the pit. The water rose over my head. I said, �It�s all over.�

I called out your name, O GOD, called from the bottom of the pit.
You listened when I called out, �Don�t shut your ears! Get me out of here! Save me!�
You came close when I called out. You said, �It�s going to be all right.�

You took my side, Master; you brought me back alive!

There are two distinct sections of this passage. The first is the despair as the author almost gives up hope. The second is the restored hope as he calls out to God and God responds. There is a phrase in each section that resonates in me. The first is the cry of hopelessness in verse 54, �The water rose over my head. I said, �It�s all over.�� Then, in verse 57, God says to him, �It�s going to be all right.� Now, the reason this phrase resonates so much in me is that, several weeks ago, right in the middle of all of the issues we were having with Stephanie, I received, through two different media (not the crystal ball kind, of course), the message that �It�s going to be all right.� One was from Dennis Jernigan, during a Friday night Night of Praise in Fort Worth. The other was the following Monday morning. One of our local tv stations was having their early morning show, and at then end, they had the most popular party band in DFW, Emerald City, playing live in the studio. I don�t know the song they were playing, but it kept saying, �It�s going to be all right.� Heh. Well, God spoke through a donkey, didn�t he?? And today, I read this again, in Lamentations.

I�ve called out to God so many times during the ordeal with Stephanie. We felt like we were sunk down in a pit with the water closing in over our heads. I think that we almost became numb at times, as the whole thing seemed to get worse and worse, and then, all of a sudden, it was over. Just like that. Right toward the end of this time, I felt closer to God than I have in a long time. And the funny thing is, during a church staff meeting last Sunday, the pastor made a comment that the worship during those weeks was tremendous. That comment was made in response to my comment that, during that time, it was all I could do sometimes to put a worship service together. This, my friends, shows the awesome power of God. When I was struggling, he was there in power, to make sure that my job got done right. And I have to admit that, once I got on stage and entered into the spirit of worship, there were times that the troubles just faded away to the point of almost being non-existent. That�s what worship will do for you, and I highly recommend that it be done in the corporate setting. There is strength in numbers, and there have been several times over the course of the years that I have been at this particular church, that I know for a fact that the volume level of singing was way, WAY louder than the small group in that sanctuary should have been able to produce! I believe that angels have sung with us, at times. Yeah. I really do believe that. You�d have to have been there.



My God, I thank you for being close to me during times when things were hard. I pray for that closeness equally when times are ok. To have you close to me means more than anything else.


Be open to the closeness of God this week.


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