Getting Out of the Pit: Loving My Enemies

Life Lessons from Winnie the Pooh:

I’m from the era of Saturday morning cartoons.  When we were kids, my brother and I would get up on Saturday mornings, park ourselves in front of the tv in our living room, and spend the morning watching Saturday morning cartoons because that was the only time cartoons were on and we were actually able to control the tv! Winnie the Pooh was always on, so we grew up with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Tigger, Christopher Robbin, and Owl.  Every episode of Winnie the Pooh involved the characters getting themselves into some type of trouble or trying to solve some type of problem. And, in every episode, Tigger was getting himself in some type of trouble, Winnie the Pooh was guilty by association, Eeyore was the nay-sayer cloaked in self-pity, and Owl was just waiting to bestow wisdom and advice on his friends. I think, if we take a minute to be a little self-reflective and introspective, we can all agree that throughout our lives, we are all Tigger at some points, Winnie the Pooh at others, and Eeyore occasionally!  And, while they are all cute and cuddly cartoon characters, our reality is that we will never get out of the pit if we live like them.

Life in the Pit:

I’ve been studying the psalms, and I’ve been amazed at the amount of times David and the other psalmists reference “the pit.”  Throughout the Old Testament, the term “pit” is used to describe several different types of literal holes in the ground, but it is also used figuratively as a place of death and destruction--dark, deep places where you are without strength, forsaken by others, and forgotten by God.  Needless to say, the pit is not a happy, hopeful place full of butterflies and unicorns. Yet, often throughout the psalms we hear David reference his own experience in the pit or others’ experiences in the pit.  

If we’re going to be honest, we have to admit that we all have done some time in the pit.  And, if we’re going to be really honest, we can all probably admit that we’ve done time in the pit directly due to our own actions, indirectly due to our own actions, and due to our own self-pity.  Regardless of how we got in the pit, though, If we ever want to truly love our enemies, we have to make the conscious choice to get out of the pit.  

Jonah and Tigger:

If you’ve never thought about what Jonah and Tigger have in common, I’m sure you’re not alone, so let me enlighten you!  Jonah and Tigger both came up with their own plans that ended up getting them in the depths of trouble. Thankfully, Tigger always had his friend Owl to lead him in the right direction, and Jonah had, you know, God himself.  Jonah knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He knew he was supposed to go to Ninevah. He knew he was supposed to go to them and warn them of their imminent demise due to their wickedness, but his own selfishness and anger got in the way of his ability to do what he was supposed to do.  He didn’t want to go to Ninevah because he knew God was going to show them grace and mercy and save them. He knew it, and he didn’t like it. So, he did exactly the opposite of what God told him to do, and he ended up in the pit. Well, he ended up in the belly of a fish, but I feel like that’s pretty similar to a literal pit.  Jonah ended up in the pit because of his own actions. He did it. And, even when God delivered him from the pit, he didn’t choose victory. He still grumbled and pouted. We don’t often read the rest of the story where Jonah goes to Ninevah but sits outside of the city and pouts to the point where God actually withers the tree he’s sitting under for shade!  God pulled Jonah out of the pit, but he didn’t learn his lesson. He didn’t live victoriously. And, Tigger is the same way! He finds himself in the pit over and over again, and he never learns his lesson!

Have you found yourself in the pit because of your own actions?  I have. I definitely have, but I didn’t stay in the pit.  And, that is what is important if you find yourself in the pit because of your own decisions.  You can choose to get out of the pit. You can choose to quit making the decisions that landed you in the pit. You can choose victory even if you got yourself in the pit.  

So, friend, if today you find yourself stuck in a pit of your own doing, choose victory.  Make the choice to change, to repent, to truly turn away from your sin and disobedience and accept God’s grace and forgiveness so you too can have victory.

Joseph and Winnie the Pooh

I’ve committed to this Winnie the Pooh analogy, and I’m going to see it through!  Sometimes we find ourselves in the pit indirectly due to our own decisions. We see this with Winnie the Pooh and Joseph and his brothers.  Poor Winnie the Pooh found himself in all sorts of trouble because of the actions of his friends (cough*Tigger*cough). Winnie the Pooh should have made better choices and should have stood up for himself, but it was never his own actions that directly got him in trouble.  Joseph was the same way. Joseph couldn’t help the fact that he was his father’s favorite or the youngest sibling. He couldn’t help that, but he probably could have controlled his arrogance just a little better. He probably could have found a more tactful way to tell his brothers about the prophecy.  He probably could have refused the coat of many colors or at least not worn it around his very jealous brothers who hated him, and it.  

And, where does Joseph find himself?  In a pit. Literally. Thrown in a pit because of his incredibly angry brothers who wanted to kill him.  While Joseph didn’t directly cause himself to fall into the pit, his actions didn’t help keep him out of the pit.  And, too often we find ourselves in this same position. Maybe we didn’t defiantly disobey God like Jonah, but we find ourselves stuck in a pit because of both our actions and because of the actions of others.  That’s where I’ve found myself for the past several months. I wasn’t there solely because of my own choices but due to the choices of my enemies. I wasn’t there because I was defiantly disobeying God; I was there because others were.  

And, that is a hard place to be because I can’t control other people.

But, I can control my response to other people, and, even though I would rather stay angry and hurt and not forgive my enemies, I can’t live that way and expect to live victoriously.  So, today, I am choosing to get out of that pit, to forgive, and to have victory.

The cool thing about Joseph’s story is that it doesn’t end in the pit. The cool thing about Joseph’s story is that because of the pit, God uses Joseph and his circumstances in amazing ways.  Even if you, like Joseph or Winnie the Pooh or me, find yourself in the pit because of other people, I pray that you make the choice to free yourself from that pit today. I pray that you allow God to use your time in the pit to do something miraculous in your life and the lives of others.

Eeyore:

I have to be completely honest with you.  I absolutely hate the character of Eeyore.  He annoys every fiber of my being. His mopey, sad, “woe is me” character just makes me want to bang my head against the wall.  Eeyore is in the pit because of his own self-pity. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that “pity” is simply “pit” with a “y” on the end.  You cannot live a victorious life if you are stuck in the pit of self-pity. You cannot do it. In John 10:10, God said he came that we would have life and have it to the full.  You cannot have life and have a full life if you are suffering in the pit of self-pity. Can I get an amen? Do you have any eeyores in your life? Do you have anyone who is so consumed living under the banner of “woe is me” that you don’t even understand how they get out of bed every morning?  If you have these people in your life, start praying for them today. Start praying that God will chase them down just like he does when he leaves the 99 to give them life and victory.  

Or, are you that person?  Are you that person who is so stuck in the pit of self-pity that you shift blame for everything in your life onto other people, you can’t see the good in anything, and you are living a miserable existence?  I’ve been there. I’ve been in the pit where I focus on what everyone else is doing to me, how my enemies are lying, abusing, and attacking me. I’ve been in the pit where I’m so focused on my own wounds, I can’t see the God who will heal them or give me victory in these battles. If you are so stuck in the pit of self-pity that you are miserable and everyone around you is miserable, I pray that today you start to look up, that you pray for God to forgive you of the sin of self-pity, and that you thank God for the victory he is going to give you as you get out of the pit.  

Get Out of the Pit:

Regardless of how you got into the pit, today has to be the day you choose to stand up, dust yourself off, and allow God to pull you out of the pit.  I love the psalms. I love what we learn about prayer and authenticity through the laments, praises, and emotions of David and the psalmists. And, I especially love Psalm 40 where David explains that God “stooped down to lift [him] out of danger from the desolate pit [he was] in, out of the muddy mess [he] had fallen into.”  I love how David praises God for “lift[ing him] up into a firm, secure place and stead[ying] [him] while [he] walk[ed] along his ascending path.” David knew what it was to be in the pit, but he also knew the power of his God and father to lift him up out of the pit and place him in a secure place. Not only did God place David on steady ground, but God walked with David throughout the process.  And, he is waiting and willing to do that exact same thing for us if we are open to Him and ask for his guidance, if we choose to allow him to pick us up out of the pit today.

If you ever want to have victory, if you ever want to truly be able to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, you have to get out of the pit.  If you stay in the pit, the only thing you are ever going to see is dirt and dust, death and destruction, isolation and loneliness. But, if you choose to allow God to pick you up and pull you out of the pit, he can dust you off and truly use that dust and dirt to make something beautiful.  

I know my struggle with loving my enemies and praying for those who persecute me has been thwarted due to my pit-living.  I know I haven’t been able to truly love them or pray for them because of my own hurt, anger, self-pity, and defeat. I know I’ve been so focused on the dirt and the dust that I haven’t been able to truly trust God to use it to make something beautiful and miraculous.  

If you are there with me, if you are struggling to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, pause for a minute.  Be still in God’s presence, and pray that he will reveal to you if there is something in your own life or some attitude or hurt you have that is keeping you in the pit.  Let today be the day that, like David, God lifts you up, places you on solid ground, and walks with you into victory.