Church of Hope

Betrayal does not have to end with you stuck in a pit.  You weren't planning to be in a pit, but God will use the pit in His plan.  How you respond will determine your next level after the pit.  We need to respond in three ways:  STAY LOYAL TO GOD.  Whereever you are, stay loyal to God.  Keep committed to Him, and His way.  Genesis 39:2 says this about Joseph - "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master..."  God was with Joseph - Joseph stayed connected with God, even while in a foreign land.  Next - STAY LOYAL AND WAIT FOR GOD.  Where do you look when you are in the pit?  What is your perspective.  God is building something in your life.  Wait for God to do it.  And while you are waiting for God, people are watching how you handle that pit situation.  And also, STAY LOYAL TO THE AUTHORITIES IN YOUR LIFE.  We have to get under what God has placed over us.  Trust God and be loyal to those He places over you.  Joseph was under Potipher and was loyal to him.  Joseph may not have understood why he was there, but he did understand the principle of being loyal to the authority in his life, and it took him to what God had prepared for him.  When you are in the pit and feeling betrayed, or hurt, or scared - Psalm 40: 1,2,3 says, "I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit... many will see and fear and put their trust in God."  Let God turn the situation of the pit into the life He has prepared for you.

Being in a pit may not seem like the best place to be, but God wants to take the pits in our lives and make them a place of breakthrough.  God can use that pit for His glory.  Think about Joseph.  Think about that pit - betrayed by his brothers, hurt physically, and then sold to live without freedom in another country.  Yet God had a plan!  We can focus on the pit or we make the most of the pit.  We can do that by doing three things:  Make the most of your pit and GROW.  Where you are at, what you are doing - is the way God brings us to His plan - He is at work.  Stay the course with God; He is preparing you.  Also, make the most of your pit and GLORIFY GOD.  Remember, it's just a pit stop!  Give God the glory He deserves - and use the gifts He has given you for His glory.  And, make the most of your pit when you GET OUT.  There's nothing like the perspective of being out of the pit.  God can use the pits as part of His plan.  There is purpose - you've been changed - God has done a work in you - He has brought breakthrough in your life.  So if you are in a pit right now, look to God to get you out.  He wants your pit to be just a pit stop!

Commitment is easy when things are going well.  Money in the bank... relationships are pleasant... work is stress free...

But what happens to our commitments when things go downhill?  In 1 Kings 17, Elijah faced a downhill time, but he kept His commitment to God.  The prophet of God had to leave - this was God's command to him.  Not knowing where our commitments will take us at times leaves a lot of room for doubt, but when we are committed to God, He will be there.  Elijah had to take a stand; a stand to stay committed to God and what God called him to do - It takes courage to take a stand.  It takes commitment to keep standing...

1 Kings 17:2-3, 6, it reads..."And Word of the Lord came to Him.. 'Go away from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith which is east of the Jordan... The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.."

Even as he was in trouble, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah.  God's presence came to him when He needed it most... RESPOND to the presence of God in your life as Elijah did.  Know that God will come to you, but are we going to respond to Him.  In response to His presence, RELOCATE to the place of God...God's command was to go away; God had a place just for Elijah to go to... That will be the place that God will change and transform you.  And when you are in that place that God has you, RECEIVE the transformational provision of God.  Not only will God provide all you need to be committed to Him, He will transform you in the process.  He was set aside by God for this time, and Elijah's commitment to God kept him where God wanted him to be.  Keep committed in troubled times by RESPONDING to the presence of God in your life, RELOCATING to the place of God, and RECEIVING the transformational provision of God.