Slimy Pits
Purpose Driven Life #25
Cornwall
February 7, 2004
Jeremiah was a prophet to the ancient people of Judah. What is a prophet, you might ask? He was someone who got messages from God and took them to people. Jeremiah got messages from God and did his job and took them to the people that God told him to take the messages to. Who wouldn’t? If you knew exactly what God wanted of you, you’d do exactly as you were told, wouldn’t you? I hope I do, and, I know, you hope you are doing this in your life. So, did Jeremiah.
In the story of Jeremiah’s ministry, we read of something rather troubling that happened to him- this was certainly troubling for him and is, also, troubling for us, many 100s of years later.
Jer.38.1-6- we break in on the story that is outlined, more completely, in the previous chapter, and we see what people did because they didn’t like the message. There is always a tendency to ‘shoot the messenger’ when the message isn’t to our liking, and Jeremiah got caught in the cross hairs, so-to-speak. See where Jeremiah ended up. He was put into an empty cistern- might have been an empty well, for that matter- but it had some unpleasantness at the bottom. Down there, where Jeremiah ended up, it was a horrible slimy pit. Probably all of us have been in slimy mud at some time in our lives. In the summer, when we walk by a pond or slough, it can be kind of greasy and slimy. I remember a slough/pond on the farm I grew up on and, in the spring, I would use this to launch my annual raft, once the ice broke up. As it did, and the ground around the slough softened, it got slimy. Around the dugout, where our cattle got their water in the pasture, too, in the summer, after the rain, it got slimy, and I’d go tromping out there with my rubber boots, and enjoy the ooze- was never one to enjoy getting into it with bare feet, though.
Fortunately, Jeremiah didn’t have to stay in that slimy pit for very long.
v.7-13.
Today’s question is: What are your slimy pits? We all have them. We all have those places where we’re let down into in life and which are not as pleasant as we’d like. What is yours? What are yours?
Maybe it’s your health which isn’t all you’d like it to be. You might have an ongoing or developing health condition that you’d like to have lifted from you- or you’d like to be lifted out of that pit, as Jeremiah was. Maybe yours is some family problem or problems that plague you. Your pit might be that of too few dollars at the end of the month- this is a common one, for several reasons, not all of our own making. You’d like to be lifted out. Yesterday, I was in a high school and a number of the teachers had bought a ticket together on the big lottery draw from last night- and they were talking about how they were going to win this time and I heard some discussion about what some of them would do with the winnings. We all do dream, don’t we, and God has put that there.
Maybe your slimy pit is a poor teacher you have at school, and you’d like to be out of that class and in one with a better teacher. You know you’ll be lifted out at the end of the year, but that can seem like a long way off, yet. Your pit might be older age. The golden years are often quite tarnished and not all people would like. People plan and look forward to retirement and then don’t have the health to enjoy it, or the money to do what they had hoped for, or they end up with the grandchildren coming home and needing to be cared for, so the ‘freedom’ they had looked forward to is not there. Perhaps unemployment or underemployment is your pit.
I know that you have at least one that you are in- we all do. We all have those slimy pits, now. And we’ve had them and we will have them- they are part of our lives.
How do you feel about your pit? How well are you handling your pit? I’m sure you wish for someone to come along, like they did for Jeremiah, and to remove you and lift you out, but, possibly for long times, you’ve been in that pit. Some of our slimy pits are pretty awful- I know that. You wrestle with doubts, sometimes, in the dark of the night, or the privacy of your own thoughts, from your slimy pit. Sometimes you doubt God and you wonder about him and why you’re in such a messy place.
Psa.34.18- says something interesting to us. (Have someone read it.) What does it tell you and me? It tells us that God’s people go very low sometimes. To have a breaking heart is very low and we’re told that God is not far from us, when our hearts are breaking. Sometimes, in those times, we’ll feel that God has deserted us. Don’t take that approach. That is not the way it is.
Are you ‘in Christ’? Let’s settle that issue this morning, first-of-all.
Ro.8.9- gives you encouragement. Have you responded to the call of God on your life? Have you accepted that incredible sacrifice of Jesus for your sin and to enable you to go forward? Then, you have the Spirit of God, and you are in Christ. IF you are in Christ, then you have God’s focused attention on you every day and every second of every day. He’s not far from you and, because you are his child, he’s thinking about you all the time.
Turn, please, to Rom.8.28- someone please read this.
Let’s unpack these verses for a bit, here. They are important to our understanding of those slimy pits of our lives. So far, we’ve understood that if our hearts are breaking, and we’re going through great difficulties in our lives, God is not far away. God is near us in our trouble. Then, we’ve confirmed that in Christ we have God focused attention.
Here we see some other ideas that transform our reaction to trouble, when we remember. Let me remind you, as I’ve focused on in the past two messages- we are changed by what is in our minds. When we put something into our mind, it changes how we feel and then how we act. So, when we put sound and right ideas into our minds, we are transformed- our lives are changed.
“We know”- remember that our walking with God is not a matter of ‘feeling’. There is a lot of knowing involved. It’s important not to revert to feelings. When you’re in your pit- in your trouble- it’s important to remember what you ‘know’.
“all that happens to us”- what, in your life, is not included in ‘all’? Is there anything not included in ‘all’ or ‘all things’? No, there is not. This tells us that our lives won’t be empty- they’ll have things happening. There will be happenings in your life and mine and we’ll not like each one of them.
“is working for our good”- now, there’s a promise for you. That’s incredible to know, isn’t it?
“if we love God and are fitting into his plan”- these are not conditions we have to meet in order to get God’s attention or focus or attention. And, yes, I know, all of us will say, ‘well, I maybe don’t love God enough’. That’s not the issue. You are ‘in Christ’, and you ‘love God’, and you are actively trying to fit into his plan- that’s why you are here today and that’s why we’re taking 40 messages to understand our purposes in life!
This tells us, too, of a promise that is not there for everyone. Everyone cannot say that things will work out. Too, this does not tell us that everything is going to work out the way we want or that everything will come to a nice storybook conclusion in this life. This is a promise with some vision involved.
Isn’t this something exciting to know? When you’re in your slimy pits, you have some promises to understand.
God is doing something in you.
Ro.5.3-4- God is building character in you. I read recently that the only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners is the character of the person who died. Character is very important. Character is what goes on with us forever and there’s not nearly enough emphasis on character in our world today. People think they can have lack of character and get by and get away with so much, but life catches up with us all eventually. Character counts for very much.
Ro.8.17- tells us something else to remember in our slimy pits. As God’s children, and brothers and sisters of Jesus, we have a lot of greatness. You need to remind yourself daily of who you are in Christ. This is not ‘pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps’ but is reminding yourself of reality. In life, research has shown that it takes 5-7 positive messages to erase one negative message. How many negative messages have you been given about yourself? So, don’t get upset if you draw on some positive messages- God is the giver of these. As Christ’s siblings, we get everything Jesus has.
However, also, we can expect no less than to suffer with and as Him, too. He had trouble in his life? Who will deny that? The major picture “Passion” is about to be released and it shows, I understand, in graphic detail, the trouble that Jesus had.
Christians have a way of getting so ‘offended’ with God because of hard times, troubles, persecutions, and difficulties in life. Hey, let’s ‘get real’ here, shall we? Be realistic, not simply head-in-the-sky idealistic and unrealistic. If Jesus had troubles, and he was perfect and the Messiah, how in the world can you and I be even the smallest bit upset if we have troubles. In fact, as I see it, the fact that we don’t have troubles each and every second of our lives is because of God’s gracious goodness. In my mind, he could be justified in saving us and then simply putting us in the pits for the rest of our lives. Why do we need anything more? However, normally, we have high points as well as the low and slimy points in our lives.
It has been said that problems and troubles and do one of two things to us. They can make us bitter, or they can make us better. Which do you choose? It is a choice- your choice- that counts in this. God leaves that choice to us. Some people- Christians- are so bitter, negative, judgmental, critical, and such downers. They are always ‘burdened’. They have such difficulty seeing anything positive. I’m afraid that I have my ‘down’ times, but I see a lot of positive, even in the slimy pits. God IS there. God loves me. I AM His. He is working out things in my life so that good is produced, most often in spite of me, rather than because of me. He’s a good God! All the time! (Amen?? Anyone?)
Conclusions
Troubles will come- they are part of the curriculum. When we sign up to take a course, we have a general idea of the subject matter, but the teacher lays out the textbook, and the curriculum for us. So, when we become Christians. God lays out the individualized curriculum for each of us and He takes us through. There is no need to be anything by thankful- He always has your best interests in mind. He never takes you from heaven to hell- God’s whole purpose is to sack hell and take everyone to heaven! In reality, as you and I go through our pain and trouble, God goes through it with us, Jesus did in the Incarnation- already suffering all that we do, and the Holy Spirit does it in us now. What support!
Also, refuse to give up. Let the process continue. God has decided what it will be, and he tweaks it each day and in each situation. He works in each event in our lives to bring some good from it- that’s an absolute promise. All that is happening in your life is to prepare you for eternity- it has an impact on your character forever. Don’t be so concerned about your comfort and ease. Go to God and ask Him to conform you to HIS purpose and design. That’s what you and I need to be doing. When you are in your slimy pits, don’t take the ‘woe is me’ approach of ‘why me?’ Rather, ask Him, ‘What do you want me to learn right now, and for eternity?’ Don’t give up- but, rather, grow up.
1. Do you need to change your attitude toward your problems in life? Take a moment to give them to God, or to commit to some time to do that later today.
2. What is your slimiest pit right now? This week, ask God to help you to see Him there with you each day and to help you to face it thankfully and to help you never give up. This way, you’ll be going forward with God, Jesus, and the Spirit soundly and strongly.
