“I waited patiently for the LORD, and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:1-4 ESV
There is a popular saying that goes like this: “When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up.” But it does not always feel that way. Usually, it feels as though we have tripped and fallen into a deep dark pit, and just when it seems like it could not get any worse, the floor opens up, and we are falling in again.
Sometimes it feels as though we are sitting helplessly in this pit, looking upwards at our goals, dreams, plans, and what we envisioned life to look like. This pit (without footholds or ledges) is utterly impossible to climb out of by ourselves, and our dreams, on the surface, seem to be getting further and further away. The longer we stay in this pit, the louder our mourning of what could have been become. We mourn the state of weakness we have found ourselves in, and even though we have reached rock bottom, there is absolutely no way up.
But, in this vulnerable state of weakness, our loving Father steps in – just as He did for King David in Psalm 40. He inclines to us and hears our cry. He scoops us up from that dark, dreary pit and sets our feet upon a rock. However, after our miraculous rescue from that pit, we look around, and those dreams and goals that we were missing are nowhere to be found. Instead, God is offering us a new song. He is offering us new goals, new dreams, new plans and a new outlook on life. Our former self-serving ambitions led us to that pit, but God wants to lead us to Himself.
And, at this point, we are each faced with a choice. Whether we want to continue singing our old song (that leads us down a road with ditches and pitfalls), or if we’re going to accept this new song from our Saviour and use our experience to glorify God. The new song that God offers us is one of praise, one that redirects the focus from us onto who He is. It’s a song that causes those around us to ask whom we are singing about. It’s the type of song that draws people in and shifts their gaze towards Heaven.
Our God is not just a God of rescue; He is a God of complete restoration. He uses situations that seem hopeless and fills them with hope. He uses moments when all we think about is ourselves and transforms those moments into opportunities for us to minister to others. When we are at our very weakest is when God can show His power all the more. Therefore, Paul boasts of his weakness! For when we are weak, our own pride can’t get in the way of what God is trying to build in us.
I find myself hitting rock bottom much more than I would like. However, I know that it is not the end. Rather, it is the beginning of an opportunity for me to fulfill my true purpose as a daughter of God. Rock bottom creates space in my life for what’s truly important – what my life is truly about.
And so, I would revise the popular saying: “When you’ve hit rock bottom, look up, the God of restoration is on His way.”
