Purpose In The PitExemple

David may never have literally been in a pit, but he certainly experienced the same pitfalls that we have read about. Like Joseph, David had a season of character building.   He waited 15 years to become king after he was already anointed.  During that time, he continued to tend sheep and even humbly serve Saul. Like Benaiah, David proved he was a mighty warrior.  But instead of a lion, in a pit, on a snowy day, it was a sword-wielding giant, while he was armed with only a slingshot and five smooth stones. Like Gideon, David had his seasons of fear and times when he had to hide in caves to escape those who wished him dead. David writes Psalms about being falsely accused like Jeremiah and then turning around and praising God in the midst of all his turmoil, just like Paul. And like Lazarus, David had a moment where he got pretty smelly.  Maybe not literally, but there was that time that he committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband to cover it up.  But even then, he was not too far gone.   He was not too smelly and God wasn't through with him yet. In Psalm 40:1-2, David writes about a symbolic pit, one that maybe you feel like you are in now. But notice, that pit is not the end.   It is not the final chapter of David's story, nor is it the final chapter of your story. It is only the beginning of the next chapter, where God hears your cry, just like God heard Jesus praying for Lazarus. It's where He lifts you out of the mud you are sinking in, just like Jeremiah. It's where he sets your feet on solid ground and steadies your steps as he did for Gideon and Benaiah, It's where he puts a new song in your heart, just like he did for Paul and Silas. It's where many will see what He has done and be amazed like Joseph's brothers and King Nebuchadnezzar and Paul's jailer. 'And it just may be where you find your purpose.