Grab A Hold!

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along . He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God… ~Psalm 40:2-3, NLT

I recently had a revelation. Okay, I just had it! That’s recent. I was looking at my calender and noticed the passage from Psalm 40. That’s when it occurred to me that this is me! This is exactly what God did for me when He healed me. And I wondered, how many other people are stuck in the pit of despair? How many others are stuck in the mud and mire? How many can I reach my hand out to and say, “Grab a hold! I’ve been sent to help you out!”


I also wonder how many would grab on and accept that hand out of the pit? Or would they look at me and say, “I’ve always been this way. I’ll never be able to get out.” Excuse me? I’m HERE! I’m holding out my hand, braced to help pull you out! Why do you want to stay down there? Oh Loves, there are many, many people with just this mentality. 

These are the ones who have been intimidated for so long that they truly believe that this is their lot in life. There are people who continue telling them that they have no business out of the pit because “everyone else” in their family has been in the pit, it is their destiny to be there, too. HOGWASH!


I was in the pit for over forty years. Huh…kind of sounds like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, doesn’t it? They wandered for forty years, too. But theirs was out of rebellion. Was mine? I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I’m OUT! And I’m searching for others who are in the pit so I can reach out and help them out, too.

Why would I do that, you might ask? Because when the Lord rescued me out of the pit, He told me this:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon [you, Shelley],    for he has anointed [you] to bring Good News to the poor.He has sent [you] to proclaim that captives will be released,    that the blind will see,that the oppressed will be set free,19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. ~Luke 4:18-19, NLT (emphasis & words in brackets are mine)

God’s Word is full of promises for us. He has great big plans for all of us, not just a choice few. If we believe in Him, we have to believe in His Word. It never changes. It never goes out of date. Because there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). 

My job is to help people out of the pit. I’m an encourager. I’m excited. I may come across as being a little “out there” but that’s okay! Sure, I have purple hair and I wear mismatched socks. But the people I am getting to talk to are receptive to how I look and what I say. Why? It was ordained and anointed by God! 

How many people will I get to help out? I don’t know the answer to that question. Not yet, anyway. But someday I will. Until then, I have to keep reaching my hand out. I have to keep searching for those who are stuck in the mud and mire. And when I meet them, I’ll say, “Grab a hold!”