OUT OF THE PIT

This might seem a little morose, but there is hope in the end! It's at least an honest picture of what I think it is like to feel stuck in a pit, trying to get out!

OUT OF THE PIT

Maybe you fell blindly. Maybe you helped yourself down all along.

Regardless, your feet touch the bottom and your heart sinks.

Desperation like you have never known overcomes your soul and mind.

Which is worse?

The isolated moment of finding yourself in implausible depth,

Or the countless others you spend snatching for your way out?

The sense of shock upon realizing where you are,

Or the futile clambering to escape?

Your first reaction: a frantic race to reach the top,

Wanting to be nowhere near where you are.

You raise your arm and lift your foot, searching for an edge to catch.

With just an inch to hold onto, you hoist yourself up.

You seem better off than when you began, and it might feel like progress.

You can’t be sure; but you keep on, wondering how many unfamiliar steps are left.

You seem upward-bound, but then…

Your foothold has vanished with no warning.

You didn't see it coming, but that does not keep you from descending, quickly.

Will you strike bottom again?

You were so careful, thinking that every step was best.

Everything was in the right place. You felt stable for that moment.

Yet you find yourself further away from solid ground,

And now with added disappointment for the failure.

Tired, defeated, you still desperately long for escape.

Weaker this time, you raise your limbs in another effort.

Again, all the strength you can collect thrusts you, almost too quickly, just a bit further.

You stubbornly push forward, though by now your hopes are reserved for the end.

Unsurprisingly, weakness overcomes, and you are, once again, plunging.

Which is worse?

That initial moment of finding yourself at the depth of the pit,

Or the innumerable frustrating, disappointing efforts of reaching the top in vain?

They leave you in pain, hopeless, as if you will never leave.

The dust, loosened from the walls by your scratching, begins to fill your lungs.

Breathing is a chore. Moving almost unthinkable.

What if He has been where you are striving to be all along?

Watching from above, holding His arm out in relief, asking you to take His hand.

You didn’t notice Him in the midst of all of your work.

You wondered where He was, but were too focused on the wall ahead of you to see.

You can’t imagine His arm being long enough to grasp your depths; you are too far.

But His ways are beyond yours. He is higher. He is deeper. He is enough.

No strength of your own is required.

You must only place your weary, mud-covered hand in His,

Knowing that He will lift you up and out of the desolate hollow.

You still observe the walls of the pit as you are lifted out,

But you are no longer striking yourself against them in fruitless attempt.

Give up your efforts and give in to your waning strength.

He grip is more firm, more perfect, more loving than is fathomable.

Your earthly mind finds such a simple, Heavenly rescue hard to believe.

You are not sure you even know how to simply raise a hand to His.

You may continue to attempt the climb in front of you,

Or you may relinquish the labor and accept the generous simplicity of His love.