Chapter 4 – Get Out of That Pit
When You Jump Into a PitOh my word…let’s call the kettle black ladies. Is it me, or did almost every single one of us have a moment this week when we were like, “Well hello missy, that is ME!”? Yikes!
According to Beth on page 71, “You can jump in. That’s the third and final way you can land in a pit.”…”Yep, at some point in our lives we’ve been thrown into a pit. At another, we slipped into a pit. And at still another we hauled off, aimed, and jumped square into the bull’s eye of a pit.”
Oh man…did she say that we actually jump in??? Hum, yep, now that I think about it, I would say that is true, wouldn’t you?
Look what I found on page 76, “God in His tender mercy gives us plenty of warnings enabling us to avoid pits, but the problem with us pit-jumpers is that we don’t want (say it with me now…I don’t want to!!! with your best pout on your face, Melissa) to hear those warnings. We want what we want. So we stick our fingers in our ears before we jump in. What on earth drives us to do such a thing? Of all the ways into the pit, jumping in is by far the most dangerous and the most supremely- oh, that I had an even stronger word!-consequential. You see, motive is huge to God!”
YIKES!!! Did we really just say, “we don’t want to” to God? Um, yep, I think we did.
Ok, seriously now…did you guys want to practically highlight the whole chapter?
On page 85, oh man, I love this one…, “You can mark this one down any time and every time: God’s “no” is a quick shove away from a pit. The sooner the shove, the better.”
She ends the chapter on page 88 with this simple sentence…”Walk away from that pit before it’s the death of you.” Those are some strong yet important words!!!
Let’s dig into the Personal Application Questions and see what we can come up with:
1) “We are so perfectly fitted for passion that we will find it one way or another. If we don’t find it in Christ, we’ll find it in things like lust, anger, rage, and greed.” How have you seen this truth displayed in your own like or those you know?
2) Each of use will ultimately do what we want to do. Christ asks, “What do you want, Child?” How will you answer that question?
3) The psalmist said, “I delight to do YOUR will, O my God: Your law is within my heart” (Psalms 40:8 NASB). On a continuum between “not at all” to “yes, I’m there,” how true is this for you today?
4) A Barbie doll with one foot gnawed off provided a poignant image for Beth’s spiritual condition. What image would you use to describe your spiritual status as you think about your own propensity toward pit jumping?
5) Why is God wise to never let you forget the excoriating pain of where you’ve been?
Walking Away from the Pit,
God truly delights in you.
To any and all of the chicks that come to the LIVE! Group meetings here in Ft. Lauderdale…I am SO SORRY!!!
I had two facilitators ready and willing to lead the group today and one of them had their child get sick, one was late, and the moral support and other facilitator came down with a yuck bug today too.
The evil one is trying REALLY hard to keep us from discussing this topic, isn’t he?
Pray hard ladies and keep climbing out of the pit with me…
Much Love,
Melissa
My book has just arrived, so I will be reading it soon and joining in. Yay! Don’t be discouraged Mel..the word will get out, and the chicks will get out of the pits.
Even tho I don’t have the book, I stand up and confess “I am a pit jumper!” Where angels fear to tread, there I go marching in. And yes, I can confirm a particular situation cropped up in 1994 and God told me over and over to back away from it and I said “I don’t wanna!”. Whilst God has forgiven me for that sin, I am still living with the consequences!
I will have to get this book at some point, I think.
How fun that you do this! I’m doing the Beth Moore study on Daniel right now or I’d jump in (to the study!).
Happy day,
Melissa
I’m late ! Sorry Mel !! It’s Friday here already … how does time go so quickly !? But … I’m here now !
PIT JUMPING … yeah, that’s probably the way I wind up in pits the most. Looking, ignoring the warnings and JUMPING in with both feet !!
1.) It’s so true … the statement about passion. I’ve heard it said about worship too. We were created for it. If we don’t worship God, we will naturally worship something else. I can see it with passions as well !
2.) What do I want ? I want to do what is right. I want have apure/clean heart – and motives ! BUT … I want it to be easy. Almost done for me !!! You know ? It’s the discipline and the making right choices when they are not the easy choices that get me !
3.) I’m no where near “there” !! But, I’m not “not at all” either.
I think it’s too hard to measure where I’m at !!
4.) Ever seen the Mike Myers/Nicole Kidman Saturday night live skit ? He’s the “hyper hypo” in a harness and head gear, tied up to the monkey bars. She feeds him chocolate and all of a sudden he’s running down the road … still attached to the monkey bars. That’ s how I feel sometimes. All of the “protective gear” is fitted and in place but I still jump … just pulling all of it along behind me ! I guess that’s why the pit is such a “heavy” place !
5.) Because when we remember the pain, we are less likely to want to go through it again !
Sorry I am late! I have been keeping up, promise. 🙂
1) Yes, oh yes, and yes! I think that the best way to describe it is our desire to be completely given over to Him versus our desire to be completely all about ME. It’s that word, control–who has it?
2) You know, I answered this as a question and prayer to the Lord when I read it: I said, Lord, I just want to want what You want me to want. That’s all.
3) Yes, I am there. I have to be. I am a mess without Him–and if I don;t delight in what He has been doing in our lives, I surely would grow bitter and anxious and frustrated.
4) I think of a doll with a crown on and the crown is crooked and she needs some cleaning up and care…almost like Grisabella the glamour cat in Cats, ya know? This doll needs some tending from her Savior!
5) Because of my very good memory, I still see each pit-place I have been in slow motion. He lets me remember, so I will not go back. Over the years, He has also let me see some of the motives behind my actions–now that helped me so much to identify what my heart looked like then and what it looks like now. He’s such a good God!
Glad you made it home safely, Melissa. I prayed for you as you travelled and will continue to keep the families in my prayer of the tornado disaster.
Love,
holly
I am really enjoying this book!! I love Beth Moore’s total open-ness that we can all relate to. I have pit jumped in my impatience, instead of waiting on God, pounced on in. We all have a limp of sorts and Beth sharing about the gnawed leg of Barbie, other wise perfectly coiffured and attired, made so much sense.