Friday, June 6, 2008

Verse of the Day - Psalm 40:2

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. ~ Psalm 40:2 (NASB)

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Quicksand has always had a horrifying mystique to it, for most people. And our concepts of quicksand may be more myth than fact, I'm sure. No one I know has ever seen it in real life, but we see it on fictional TV and film, and it is scary! Once you're in quicksand, the idea is not to move or squirm, 'cuz it'll just dig you deeper, more stuck than before. Your only hope is for someone to come along and rescue you before you sink into deathly oblivion, a pit of destruction, never to be seen again -- Yikes!

Before we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are stuck in an eternal pit of destruction with no way out on our own. In our journey of life, some are oblivious to their predicament, perfectly content in the mire of a self-driven life. They don't even know they're stuck in the mud. But God has a beautifully divine way of opening our eyes to the futility of our dead-end quicksand habitat. And when we recognize our need for rescue and our inability to get out on our own, Jesus is there...with a mighty arm, to lift us out of sin's death grip. Out of the eternal quicksand that would swallow us up forever. And He sets our feet on a rock...The Rock, Himself...and guides our steps as we walk firmly with Him.

Soul salvation is an amazing rescue from spiritual bondage to the evil one, and I, for one, am so thankful Jesus rescued me! I hope you also know from experience the awesome blessings of your soul rescue. But do believers in Jesus suffer from other pits of destruction along the path of salvation? Once rescued from sinking eternally, can we fall into the quicksand of despair and depression?

That seems to have been David's issue in Psalm 40. He knew His God intimately. He had tasted the Lord's salvation and was secure in His relationship with God. That wasn't David's problem. But life has a way of revealing the hidden pits of quicksand, sometimes too little too late -- and we just get stuck. I know you know what I'm talking about.

Sometimes circumstances hit us broadside...

~ Mr. Jackson, the tests reveal Stage 4 cancer.

Sometimes they just stack up...

~ What am I going to do, Janie? It's bad enough that Frank up and left me 3 weeks ago, and now I get laid off?

And the quicksand grabs us. Despair, depression, thoughts of suicide or just wishing we were dead. Death often seems an oasis of relief when the pit of destruction sucks us into its grip. Sometimes emotional pits can be much more destructive than any physical wounds.

So, do we cry out for help, or just resign ourselves to a life of misery in the pit? Or, equally as futile, struggle on our own, thinking we can get ourselves out if we just work hard enough at it?

David cried out to God for help, and waited...believing that help would come from His Father. And help did come! God was faithful to pull him out of the destructive emotional mire that held him captive.

God is our source of rescue, for every pit we fall into. I pray you can turn to Him, and believe in His power to save you when life sucks you in. When God grabs you, your feet will know the solid Rock again, and you'll be back on the path of hope and life!

God bless you today, as you walk your path...

Love,
Joelene

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