The Pit

When I was 19, I worked for a man doing manual labor. One particular day he had the crew at his house digging a septic tank hole by hand. One of the other workers and I had already gotten the hole pretty deep. So deep in fact that at 6’1″ it was over my head. So, being the taller of the two, I was shoveling the dirt out. The other guy that was shorter was using a pickaxe to loosen the dirt. Once he got a good bit loose I’d pitch it out of the hole. At some point I started daydreaming, waiting to shovel the next load out. As this happened some gas found its way from my inside to the outside filling the hole that we were in. I had not even realized what had happened, not until the other worker just stopped in mid swing and turned and looked at me with disdain. This is the point that I began to laugh uncontrollably. He began to reprimand me, but the madder he got, the more I laughed. He started to try to get out of the hole, and I tried to assist. He just waved me away and said, “Don’t touch me”. He finally got out by himself, without my assistance. 

Though this is a funny story, let’s take a different look. If we know someone who is down in a pit, which may even be of their own making and continually digging deeper and deeper, they need our help. So we have to be attentive to those around us and not daydreaming like I was. We don’t need the stench of our lives or our negativity to engulf them. Also, we must be careful not to offend someone who is down. Because they really may need our help to get out of the pit they are in. If we offend them, they may not accept our help. It may take them longer to get on level ground because of our actions. Let’s stay focused and be a positive influence to those around us. So that we can be a help to others.

Ephesians 4:29 EasyEnglish Be careful not to say anything that is bad. Say only good things that will help people. Then you will help to make them strong. You will help to give them what they need. And so, your words will be good for those who hear them.

Proverbs 18:19 KJV A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.