Patience week3

 I waited patiently for the LORD to help me,

and he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground

and steadied me as I walked along.

He has given me a new song to sing,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:1-3

Out of the pit, out of the mire, the biography of all believers. It is this pit that creates in us yearning after freedom. We long for His joy and

ing above all for His liberty. But the pit will not let us be free.

In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, Christian goes through the ‘Slough of Despond.’ This despond is the milieu that causes us to acknowledge our need. We cry out for rescue simply because we know in ourselves that we are helpless. We can do nothing but wait for rescue. We wait and God acts. We have patience and the Saviour comes. Floundering, entrapped, ensnared, dying, we wait, and our patience is rewarded by the coming of our rescuer. He lifts us from the pit, and we are in love with Him because He has saved us and endowed us with great liberty. We believe in and celebrate the word grace because we know we did not, nor could not, extricate ourselves from the pit. Only Christ, who knows the depths of sorrow and the darkness of night, can bring us freedom and salvation.

The poet in this psalm feels trapped in the mire. Circumstances, like quicksand, have grasped him and are dragging him down. His greatest strength lies in his desire to be free.

To fall into quicksand and live through it demands that the victim cease struggle. Lay back gently, fin with your hands and let your calm be your strength. The same law will lift us from the Slough of Despond. The more we flail to achieve our own freedom, the more certain we are to sink deeper. But if we wait. . .if we trust and wait. . . rescue is certain.

Turn to Christ for rescue. He knows what it's like in the quicksand. He has been there before and has overcome it. He can help you if you will trust in Him.