God's Got This

There are a lot of people hurting right now and feeling alone and desperate. As Easter was approaching and I kept hearing of so many people in the pit during this time, I was reminded of being in the Holy Land. Our group was taken to Caiphas, the high priests house, the place where Jesus was taken to on the night He was arrested. We stood in a very crowded, cold, dark dungeon. Captives were lowered with rope because this was the only hole in our out of the dungeon. We were able to walk down narrow steps to get to where Jesus was held for questioning. The pit is about fifteen feet square and twenty feet deep. This area is known as the Sacred Pit with St Peter in Gallicantu church built over it.

We were asked to stand in silence and imagine the feelings of Jesus, here in a dark pit, abandoned by even his closest companions. I got so choked up that I had to leave and go outside. It was one of those cries where you cannot hold it in. I cried for 30 minutes, my heart breaking more with each tear. When I could stop thinking about all of the suffering I was overwhelmed at the reality of Jesus really does know what we are going through when we hurt. There is a Bible left in the pit opened to Psalm 88. Psalm 88:2,6,7, 18, "My soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. You have put me in the lowest pit in the darest depths. I am confined and cannot escape. You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend."

Can you relate? Do you feel like you are in the pit? Psalm 87: 7, "They have laid me in the lower pit in the dark places, and in the shadow of death." Every night, someone, somewhere, is praying this prayer. Let us remember, Jesus felt the same way! If you are in the pit, Jesus will be there with you! He gets it! Cry out to Him!

Jesus had to suffer and die. But then He was resurrected. Luke 24: 46, "He told them,'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day'..." This shows God's triumph! 1 Corinthians 15: 57, "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

If you are suffering and in the pit, know and trust that God's got this!