Counselor's Corner: How to Get Out of the Pit

What are your thoughts towards yourself? Do you tend to focus on your faults, mistakes and weaknesses more than your strengths? If you make a mistake do you belittle yourself and call yourself destructive names? Are you concerned about others perceptions about you? Are you trying to get other people out of their “pit” while you are still in your “pit?”

Focusing on your weaknesses will cause you to stay in the pit. This pit is dug by your enemy the devil to keep you down with the hopes you will never climb out.

Not everyone stays in the pit, some get out quickly because they know who they belong to-Jesus Christ, and some get stuck in the pit because they believed all the lies that the enemy whispered in their ears and received the lies as TRUTH!

For the ones who got stuck in the pit BUT starting crawling out inch by inch they have learned about battle. When they come out of the miry, dark pit, they will come out with some dirt and some scars from the climb up but will be a fierce warrior for the Kingdom of God. When you have been in the pit and you find out how to get out, you never want to go back. When you have been covered in darkness you crave the light.

Once you get stuck in the pit, it can take years to get out because once you get in the pit the enemy begins to strip you of all you know to be true about God and His goodness. In the pit the enemy shovels by the truckload all the mistakes, regrets and past failures you have endured. You begin believing in the pit that God’s blessings are for others, and that you are being punished for receiving the very things your enemies are getting.

For some in the pit they begin to wallow in self-pity and learn to become a victim. Others try and reach down to get them out of the pit and they themselves fall into the pit. If someone is in the pit and they are surrounded by self-pity, blaming, and being a victim-you can’t pull them out of the pit; only Jesus Christ can reach down that dark pit and get them out! If you have gotten out of the pit, be careful of others who want to pull you in the pit with them. If you are around someone who confesses Jesus Christ as their Savior but they also confess the “woe is me story,” pray that God will get them out of their pit of destruction but you keep moving forward away from the pit.

If you are in the pit and want out know that there will be some warfare in the beginning. This is because the enemy enjoyed oppressing you and keep you bound from living the abundant life, but when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired-you learn to fight and disarm the enemy at every step. You will need to get up every day suited up as a warrior, and not back down until all of your enemies are under your feet. Decree and declare every day that you have the victory in Jesus Christ and that you will not only get out of the pit but you are staying out for good. You focus must begin to change from all that is wrong with yourself, others, and your circumstances. Out of the pit thinking focuses on what is good about yourself and your circumstances. Getting out of the pit and staying out will require that you know who you belong to and your authority in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has given believers the authority to trample upon snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy-USE THIS AUTHORITY! You will need to become aware of hidden pits that are secretly laid out by the enemy with the hopes you will stumble in the pit again. Hidden pits cannot always be seen coming, so you will need to know what the enemy has used in the past to throw you in the pit, and when you sense these similar things are coming your way-resist immediately and turn the opposite way.

If you want to stay out of the pit you cannot go after others in the pit, nor try and rescue them from their pit. You want to keep your heart and spirit guarded from anyone who is saying, “Help me, help me,” yet not doing much to get themselves out of their pit. Of course, we should help those who cannot help themselves but this is not what I am referring to here. I am referring to people who have gotten comfortable in their pit, been there for years and want you to get them out while they continue to do things that are destructive. The bottom line is you can get someone out of their pit but if they continue doing what they are doing, they will go back to their pit. Each time we go back to the pit, it will get harder to get out. That is why you see many people repeating destructive cycles in their lives and never overcoming them.

Are you ready to stay out the pit and never go back? Staying out the pit does not mean you will never have to face a challenge but it does mean you are believing the truth about God’s blessings and goodness towards you, and you no longer condemn and beat yourself up for your failures, weaknesses and faults. You see yourself now as a daughter or son of the living King. You can give yourself permission not to be perfect, and you can now enjoy yourself. Victorious overcomer is embedded into your spirit.