Are you willing to climb into a slimy pit? A couple of weeks ago our pastor challenged us with this question. Would we be like Jeremiah and be willing to be put into a slimy pit for our belief? Linnet and I had to giggle because for the past year I have been working in the pump industry, mainly in the sewage side, and just that week I was involved in an install that required me to climb inside a very slimy pit. Unfortunately for me this has not been an isolated incident and has made me quiet an expert. Now I am not claiming Jeremiah status, but I would like to use my first hand expertise to maybe give you a different view on the whole Jeremiah/doing God’s will/slimy pit issue—without you having to experience the whole “pit diving” experience for yourself.
If you have never had to work with effluent (nice word for sewage), then I’ve got some news for you. It smells bad. Really bad. I don’t mean garbage gone off in the wind bad, but something far more subtle yet very offensive. It’s a smell that permeates into your pores and 3 showers later you still can smell it on you when you do some work. It also takes on many forms, from the obvious to the almost benign. And when you work with it a lot you get isolated, and not just because you smell off. People tend to look at you in a funny way when you answer their question, “So what do you do for a living?” You take on leper status even within your own industry. Eventually though, you get used to it. You develop a tolerance to what at first seemed very abnormal, disgusting, revolting and downright dangerous.
Now where am I going with this? Well, you can end up in a slimy pit for three reasons.
REASON 1:
You were placed in a pit for your belief. If you call yourself Christian and wish to do God’s work, then I don’t think time in the slimy pit is just an option. If you love Christ, then you love people, and the unsaved tend to hang out in that dark slimy gross place. And though it won’t be a literal one, when you are in it will know it—by it’s smell. It will stay with you long after the day is done. Be comforted. God has you there and He is never far away.
REASON 2:
Perhaps your tolerance levels have got to the point where you have come to accept what should disgust, and you find yourself in the pit even when it’s not required or you’ve ended up in the pit without knowing how you got there. If you’re not sure, then take an inventory with a clean set of senses and smell the air. Does the television that you are watching have a funny smell? Are the web pages that you visit really that benign? Is the radio station that used to shock you now on in the background? Are old friends starting to treat you like a leper? Are you just plain comfortable in your situation? Can I suggest to you that it isn’t God’s will? Rather maybe it’s time you fessed up and allowed God to get you clean.
REASON 3:
Finally, you may live behind door number 3 (or in pit no. 3) and have never known life outside the slimy pit. Do you suspect that there is something far better? Might I suggest that you get a Bible (beg or borrow but please don’t steal) and read the rest of the story for yourself? You will find it in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 38. Then might I suggest you read about another Ethiopian who has a staring role in the book of Acts, chapter 8 (his story starts at verse 26). Smart guys these Ethiopians. They knew the best place to live is not a slimy pit.
