The Pit

     Does God ever speak to you in weird or unusual ways? I feel like I often clearly hear His voice in what most people would consider distinctly nonspiritual situations. For example, I was recently watching an old episode of Parks & Recreation and Andy Dwyer, a lovable man-child musician, who had broken his legs when he drunkenly stumbled into a giant pit in the vacant lot next to his house, was singing a song he wrote about the pit incident. Here are the very literal lyrics to the aptly named song, The Pit:

The Pit.

I was in The Pit.

You were in The Pit.

We all were in The Pit.

Oh, The Pit. 

I fell in The Pit.

You fell in The Pit.

We all fell in The Pit.

Sometimes life's gonna get you down,

Hit the ground running, take a look around,

You think you found love, but you're standing in The Pit.

      Anyway, as I was watching, and cracking up about Andy's incredibly intense performance of the song, I felt God say to me, "You know, that song's about you" WHAT? "You were stumbling around, drunk on the things of this world, searching for love and fulfillment in all the wrong place, never realizing you were standing in a giant pit." WOAH. Andy Dwyer has some serious theological chops. We all WERE in the Pit. 

     And you know what's crazy, at least when Andy fell in, he knew it, but most of us are standing in it with no knowledge that we are in trouble. And even if we do realize it, we are in absolutely no position to do anything about it. Lucky for us, there's a God who's able and willing to reach down and pull us out!

     How amazing is it that God, the creator of the universe, loved us enough to send his son to save us from that pit. How incredible is that when we, in our stupidity, walked away from Him and directly into a chasm of sin, He felt compelled to outstretch his arm, grab us, and set us on solid ground. In the words of the psalmist "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." (Ps. 40:2). He didn't have to, he could've left us there, justified, since it was our own fault for falling in. But he didn't. He had mercy on us, and set us free. In the words of Paul, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8) How awesome is that?! 

     I hope you hear God speak to you in weird ways too. I think He's always trying to reveal himself to us in all sorts of ways. Maybe we just need to be more open to hearing his voice?

     As a parting gift, enjoy Mouse Rat (Andy's band) singing The Pit:

the Pit