Choices

At church we have been studying the books of James. In James chapter 5 it discusses spiritual weaknesses/sicknesses. We were given the visual of someone in a pit and having to reach up for help. When we are physically ill we take medicine, we go to the doctor, and we pray for healing. Mental emotional and spiritual sickness we tend to conceal.

Recently I reached rock bottom, again. Although this was far from being the first time, it wasn’t any easier. I immediately felt ashamed, defeated, and exhausted. I will be 45 years old in January. The thought of having to do the work again made me ill. I had a choice reach my hand up out of the pit or stay in the pit.

Obviously, reaching up should have been the immediate choice but it wasn’t. Being in the pit is easier.

I wish I could say it gets easier to get out, but it doesn’t. The pit provides some kind of comfort. It provides distance from others. It’s easy to sit and have a pity party for yourself. The problem with the pit it is lonely, it keeps the pain in and blocks love out. Walls trap the hurt and holds the pain in.

The old saying it takes a village to raise a child also reins true for getting out of a pit. It takes a village for spiritual, mental, and emotional health.

I use to think needing people was a weakness. I also thought needing others made me vulnerable to get hurt again. (If you stay in a pit, you can’t fall into another one?) God designed us to need each other and to learn from each other, so that we become the people God created us to be. I am stronger with my tribe than I am alone.

For years I chose doing life alone. I even convinced myself that I was incapable of finding a group. I was incapable of opening up to others. When really I was scared and choosing to stay in the pit.

It took years of doing the work, but when I made the choice to find my village God guided every step. God doesn’t say it will be easy but he does promise to be with you every step of the way.

So how do you get your village that will guide you out of the pit? Here is how I got mine.

Step 1: Make the choice (no excuses, no waiting until you are healthy because it won’t happen)

Step 2: Go to the doctor and listen to their recommendations (Take the medicine, get the bloodwork, go to the therapist etc.)

Step 3: Connect with God (Let him in, pray on next steps, read the bible)

Step 4: Do things you do not want to do( go to church and get involved, join a group, go to social events, go to your friend’s house)

Step 5: Keep showing up!

Step 6: Be Vulnerable (let people see the real you, let them see that you are struggling)

Step 7: Allow your tribe, your chosen family to pull you out by simply raising your hand. Allowing God to light your path.

The road of life is full of pits, some larger than others, some unsurpassable. No one can get you out of the pit. God will not get you out of the pit unless you reach out to him.

The choice is yours!

Stay in the Pit, NO NOT ME!