While in the pit, you must look up

By John Vaughn, Pastor Cross Roads Baptist Church He looked up and all he could see was a circle of blue. He looked down and all he could see was mud.  His name was Jeremiah and he was a prophet of God. His job was to proclaim the word of God for people to hear.  But they didn’t like what they heard. So Jeremiah ended up in the bottom of a pit. Have you ever been there? At the bottom of the pit? Looking up? Wondering how your world had fallen out from beneath you? Maybe your “pit” is a health problem. You noticed a lump or had a pain and all of a sudden your world is changed.  Or maybe your “pit” is an economic problem. You lost your job, or the bills keep piling up.  Maybe it has to do with relationships; a marriage gone sour, problems with a coworker or the boss, children or other family members who are alienated.  Or maybe your “pit” is a spiritual struggle.  For whatever reason, you just don’t seem to be as close to God as you once were. Or maybe it’s our current situation.  A virus that nobody can see has attacked us.  And in a matter of days, our whole world has been upended.  Nobody knows where it is or where it will strike next or when it will end.  Fear has gripped our nation and a feeling of helplessness prods people into panic mode.  It’s a pit, and we’re all in it! When you find yourself at the bottom of a “pit”, the best view is always up! You can look at the mud at the bottom of the pit, but that’s just plain depressing.  You can focus on the walls of the pit, but that’s discouraging too!  So when you find yourself in the bottom of a pit, the best place to look……. is up!  And when you do look up, that’s when you can see God!  But the sad truth is, when things are going well, many people “put God on a shelf.” Oh, you may go to church. And you may even put something in the offering plate from time to time.  But when things take a turn for the worse; you lose your job, your kids get sick, or your marriage starts to fail.  It’s then that you put God on speed dial.  “Hello God, help, my little boy is sick; or help, I just got fired; or help, we’re having problems in our marriage; or help, this virus thing is everywhere and I’m afraid it’s going to get me.”  Or “Hello God, help, I’m in the bottom of this pit and I can’t get out!” Listen to me!  Sometimes you have to get to the bottom of the pit before you realize that you need to look up! When you’re in the bottom of the pit, it’s easy to look around at the dark walls and the murky bottom and think: this is it, it will never get any better.  I might as well get used to it.  This is the way my life is going to be from now on.  But if you look up you see the blue of the sky above. Looking up also causes you to see beyond the present reality to a preferred future.  You can look beyond the bottom of the pit and beyond the walls and see where you could be and where you should be. So look up! There are actually worse places to be then at the bottom of the pit. When you look down and you can see the ground let it remind you that you are still on the right side of the grass!  And the truth is, you don’t have to look far before you find someone who is having greater problems than you are. So look up! When you’re in a pit, you learn to look around and discover who your friends are. While Jeremiah was in the pit, wondering if anyone cared, there was someone who was coming to get him out.  When you are at the bottom of the pit, you find out who your friends really are. During this difficult time, be sure to BE a friend to others.  And rest assured that Christ will be there for you.  I don’t know how this Coronavirus thing is going to play out, or whatever other “pit” you are in, but remember what God’s Word says in Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread ….. for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Keep looking UP!