Out of the pit and into promise

After writing the other day about the hem being Him, my thoughts have been racing. The initial thought was about how the hem was the closest part of that garment to the ground besides the sandals on the feet. It would have been covered in the muck, dirt and grime from the traveling between cities. Its not like it is now where we hop in our cars to go town to town. Nope, they walked on some very dusty roads. Yet, the woman with the issue of blood was determined to reach that hem.  Psalm 40:2 was at the front of my mind as this thought came and went: "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the mirey clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."  

But as I was sitting here in silent contemplation on where to go with that as a writing topic, the Lord dropped it into my spirit that we go from the pit into a promise. My initial thought was "What do you mean God?", but then stories began to unfold in my mind.  There are several stories of men in the old testament who are the embodiment of from the pit and into purpose. Let's take a moment to take a look at some of these stories.

Obviously the most infamous of them all is Joseph, the "dreamer". We are introduced to Joseph in Genesis 37. We are told that Jacob favored Joseph because he was born in his old age and with that favor came a coat of many colors. When he was about seventeen, he started with these dreams that were so wild that no one scarce believed him, and if they did it was only to mock him. It was after this that the brothers did the unthinkable: the dreamer must die. They conspired to kill their baby brother and tell their parents that he had been eaten by a wild animal.  But out of all the brothers, Ruben stood up and said not to kill him. His thought instead? Throw him into a pit in the wilderness instead, effectively still causing his death but they would not have been the ones to do it. 

As the story continues, Joseph meets his brothers in the wilderness and immediately they grab him. They stripped him of his coat of many colors (his identity) and threw him into the pit. I never thought about it but how did the pit get there? Did the brothers have to take the time to dig it? They were supposed to be tending the herds so how did they know exactly where this pit was to have Joseph thrown into? The story continues though that after they had thrown him in, they sat down to eat and drink. Isn't this typical? We do something contrary to what God asks of us and we go right on about our business as if nothing ever happened. 

In that moment, a caravan happened to be traveling by. This time, it was Judah who raised the question of spilling innocent blood, thus telling us that the brothers knew he would die in that pit.  So they pull him out and sell him into slavery. They take that coat, dip it in blood and the rouse is on. No more dreamer brother and goodbye to daddy's favorite.

As the chapters unfold, the story continues to build. Sold into slavery to become a servant in the house of Potiphar, he quickly found favor within the house. That is until he caught the roaming eye of Potiphar's wife. She did all that she could to trip him up but Joseph fled from the temptation. Here we are again though, tripped up by a coat. As Joseph fled from her presence, she had grabbed his outer garments and he quite literally ran out of them to get away from her. But just as his brothers used his coat against him, so too did Potiphar's wife.  She said "Look, you've brought this Hebrew in here and he's trying to take advantage of me." In an instance, Joseph goes from having favor to be imprisoned. 

But it doesn't stop there. Joseph then finds favor with the keeper of the prison. He befriends two other prisoners and they go about their days. Then, the cup bearer or butler,  and the baker each have dreams that no one is able to interrupt but Joseph. After 3 days, the interpreted dreams came true. The butler was restored and the baker was beheaded. The only thing Joseph had asked of the butler when he was restored was to be remembered and brought before Pharoah.  

Two years passed and the butler had forgotten the promise he had made to bring Joseph's name before Pharoah. During this time, Joseph remained faithful in his service to the keeper of the prison.  Then Pharoah had a dream that none of the wise men or scholars of the day could interpret.  That was the a-ha moment when the butler remembered Joseph and he said I know someone that could interpret the dream. He told me that in three days this would happen and it was so. So Joseph was called for and Pharoah presented his dream to Joseph to see what the interpretation would be.

Fast forward and Joseph is promoted from the prison and set over the food conservation efforts. He becomes the most influential man in the country besides Pharoah. He was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, thrown into prison then promoted to the palace. But the story of from the pit to promise does not stop there. 

In the book of Daniel, we meet the next four men who were taken from pit to promise. Their stories start in very similar ways but are truly remarkable all on their own accord. Four Hebrew boys taken into captivity by the Babylonians, set in with the eunachs to learn and be taught the ways of the Chaldeans. The trials start immediately though as even their names were challenged. Daniel became Belthshazzar. Hananiah became Shadrach. Mischal was changed to Meshach. And Azariah became Abed-nego. Initially, they were all kept together and this is where we begin to see their favor. 

As new "students" of the Chaldean ways, Nebuchanezzer ordered the prince of the eunachs to give a portion a fatty meats and wine to nourish and strengthen the young men. Daniel chose to remain true to what he had known and made the request to the prince of the enuachs. Fearing the wrath of the king, the head eunach was hesitant to honor Daniel's request. Daniel offered a compromise: allow us (himself, Hananiah, Meshal and Azariah) to eat what is customary for them while the others ate the king's portion. At the end of the 10 days, if there was a noticeable change and detriment to he and the others who partook not of the king's portion, then they would willingly oblige and eat what was set before them. If, however, there were no difference,then they be permitted to continue eating their allotment. The prince of the eunachs agreed. At the end of the 10 days, not only was Daniel right, but scripture says that their countenance was "fairer and fatter in flesh" than the others. 

This was only the beginning of being tested though. In only Nebuchanezzer's second year as king, he had a dream that greatly disturbed him. The problem was, while he wanted someone to interpret the dream for him he could not remember what it was. He called for all of the scholars, astrologers and magicians in the land and asked for them to interpret the unknown dream. I can see these men now. "You want us to do what?! How can we interpret this dream for you when you can't even tell us what it was about? You are crazy. There is no one that can do what you are asking."

The sayings of these false men infuriated the king and in his wrath, he put forth that every scholar, astrologer and magician should be put to death.  As Arioch arrived to make this known to Daniel, he asked the king if he would give him time to make the interpretation known. Once granted, Daniel went into the house with the other 3 where they began to seek the Lord, that they would be would not perish with the rest of the Babylonians. Scripture says that in the night the secret was revealed to Daniel and he went before the king the next day. What those false "prophets" said was impossible, Daniel now proved to be possible. Not only did he interpret the dream but he told Nebuchanezzer what the dream was to begin with. In so doing, the lives of Daniel, Hananiah, Meshal  and Azariah were saved. 

This is not the only time their lives were spared though. As you continue reading in Daniel, you come across the the infamous Bible stories of Daniel in the lion's den and Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in the firey furnace.  Time and time again these four were thrown into what the world would see as a pit. Yet time and time again, through faithfulness to the Lord and His precepts and laws, they were delivered from the hand that was sent to destroy them. Through their commitment to their faith, they were able to be testimonies of the God of Israel to pagan countries. 

Not all pits are designed to be your destruction. Some are divine appointments that are used as catalysts to propel you forward. It is what you choose to do in that pit which determines whether it leads to your destruction or propels you to purpose. Had Joseph not been reputable enough to find favor in each step of his journey, there would have never been the storehouse in Egypt which brought his family there to find food. This would have lead to the demise of his family. But because he chose to be honorable, an entire nation was saved and eventually brought us to Moses and the great exodus. Daniel, Hananiah, Meshal and Azariah could have eaten what Nebuchanezzer wanted them to and go along with everything that he wanted for them. Because they held true to who they were, their convictions remained. It was these same convictions that saved them when all the other "false" prophet folks were sentenced to die. It was the same conviction that allowed Daniel to continue to pray each day even though he knew that he would be thrown to the lions. It was the same that kept Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego from bowing down before any king except for God. While they could have crumbled at any moment, they did not. 

These men went from the pit to their purpose. Are we willing to go to those same lengths? Will we lay in our pit of despair and let it destroy us or will we let it propel us into our purpose?