Day 2: The Pit Test

From Dream to Destiny by Robert Moore

At this point in Joseph’s story, he had just received those glorious dreams from God (see Genesis 37:6–7, 9), and the future seemed bright and wonderful.

They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

‭Genesis 37:19-24

His brothers were jealous and schemed to kill him. Suddenly, he was thrown into a pit, and it began to seem like his dreams of honor and authority were just some kind of cruel joke.

Like it or not, all of us will go through times when we feel like we are in a pit. We may not be sure how we got there and even less sure how to get ourselves out. But one thing is certain: we won’t move into our destiny unless we get out of the pit!

You know you’re experiencing the Pit Test when nothing in your life seems to be going right. It’s easy to get discouraged and depressed because you’re in a pit, and it appears there’s no way out.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

‭James 4:7

The pit is a dangerous place to be because you will encounter the lies of the enemy—lies of accusation, lies of hopelessness, and even fabricated evidence. And if you believe his lies, you could stay in the pit indefinitely. If you want to get out, you have to learn to discern the enemy’s lies and resist them with the truth.

The first truth we must keep in mind to overcome the lies of the pit is this: it’s Satan who accuses us, not God. Revelation 12:10 identifies Satan as “the accuser of our brethren” (emphasis added). So any time you have an accusatory thought about yourself or someone else, know it’s a lie from Satan.

The enemy will try to get us to focus on our circumstances rather than God’s faithfulness. The enemy will even manipulate those circumstances to make his lies look like the truth. If we let circumstances determine what we believe, we will get caught in the lies of the pit. If you want to overcome the lies of the pit, you must learn to focus on what God says. When you are in the pit you must remember that nothing is too hard for God, no matter what evidence the enemy might produce.

Before Joseph ever got into that pit, God had a plan to get him out and bring him into his destiny. He is a redeeming God, and He delights in getting His children out of trouble. It doesn’t matter how many pits you might be in. You could even be in several at the same time. You might be in a Pit Test with your finances, a Pit Test with your marriage, and a Pit Test with your job. No matter what pit you’re in—even if you dug it yourself—God is big enough to get you out of it!