Saved From
The Pit
By Sharon Musgrove
“Did you eat from
that tree I told you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:11b (MSG)
When I was a little
girl, my family moved into a newly constructed home in which the yard had yet
to be landscaped. In fact, we had a large pit in the mud that was our backyard.
This was a time before fences divided and the neighbors had sightlines into the
business of every home.
Mom laid down the law, stating that we could play anywhere
except near that hole. The entire subdivision was my playground... the old
weeping willow tree with its tire-swing, the open field of the high school
across the street, the heap of rocks belonging to the old couple with the
dog... all of this was acceptable territory.
And yet curiosity piqued.
At the bottom of that forbidden cavity a puddle resided. Its
shiny surface creating a mirror to the sky above. My young mind did not
understand water tables but could conjure up mysteries beyond and below the
water’s surface. This very crater could have been the passageway to China!
And while I knew the boundary that had been set by my
parents, I wanted to know what secret lay at the bottom of that well. So, one
day, alone, I went to peer into the ditch and into it I fell.
I screamed in terror of falling to the other side of the
world and forever away from home. Mother came running.
Once saved from the pit, unharmed, her interrogation began. What
was I thinking? Why had I disobeyed? Did I not know she was protecting me from
harm? Out of the garden and into the shelter of the house I was
disciplined. At four years old I had no answers to mother’s questions, but the
guilt and shame I felt in my wrongdoing stuck like tar on my skin for years.
Eventually I understood this to be a “fall of man”
experience. I was Adam with clear boundaries, and I was Eve, seduced to take
part in the forbidden. And I did the one thing I was told not to do, thinking
that somehow the end would justify the means.
Reading mankind’s original sin story found in Genesis 3 of
the Bible, is not meant to be an exercise in learning how life could have been
if “those people” hadn’t messed up. Rather it’s the telling of our
everyday decision-making, and how God interacts with us continually in those
choices. Each pass through this scripture gives us opportunity to honestly
answer the pointed questions about our behavior.
“God said to the
Woman, ‘What is this that you’ve done?’” Genesis 3:12b (MSG)
When we make choices that are counter to God’s caring
instructions, He gives us every opportunity to be forthright about where we are
and what we’ve done. The questions asked are not asked to induce shame, but to
stir up truth. For what does God do when we repent of our sin?
He saves us from the pit and into His loving arms.
If you find yourself battling guilt and shame for decisions
you wish you had made differently, all you need to do is cry out to our
Heavenly Father and lift your arms up to him for escape. Surrender the striving
to get yourself out of the mud and accept that He is the One who puts you back
on solid ground.
Author
Bio:
Sharon has
been writing and teaching biblically based curriculum, Bible studies, and
devotionals since 2007.
She has
had the unique position of writing curriculum and teaching for two private,
Christ-based, residential recovery programs. Both programs primarily served
women in the homeless community.
Sharon has
traveled multiple times to Kenya, serving on medical teams and teaching in the
rural Maasai communities. She’s been privileged to speak in Leadership camps intended
on encouraging and empowering the impoverished, underprivileged, and often
abused young women.
Within
these ministries, Sharon has witnessed the transformative power of loving words
spoken to the broken-hearted. Sharing God’s love and witnessing its
transformative power has become her passion.
Sharon and
her husband, divide their time between Oregon and Hawaii. They have two grown
children.
Currently,
Sharon is encouraging others via her inspirational blog, but prefers sharing
face to face. Additionally, she is working towards a degree in Ministry.
~*~
Connect
with Sharon:
Website: Sharonmusgrove.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharon-Musgrove-Untethered-102208978041060
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharonmusgrove_untethered/
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