Beth Moore - Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about Gods Deliverance

GET OUT

OF THAT PIT

2007 by Beth Moore.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Literary Agents, Orange, CA.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Other scripture quotations are taken from: The Amplified Bible (AMP). Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The American Standard Version (ASV). Public domain. The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. The King James Version (KJV). Public domain. The New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. The New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover Design: Chris Tobias, Tobias Outerwear for Books, TobiasDesign.com

Cover Photo: Michael Carr Photography

Interior Design: Susan Browne Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moore, Beth, 1957

Get out of that pit / Beth Moore.

p. cm.

Summary: Helpful lessons for those who feel like they live in a state of confusion--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-59145-552-3 (hardcover)

1. Christian life. I. Title.

BV4501.3.M6542 2007

248.86--dc22

2006033446

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 QW 16 15 14 13

To the Tates and the Weirs,
For resisting a handful of overwhelming temptations to the pit and trusting the unseen hand of God instead.

Thank you for making me feel like part of your family and inviting me into countless tender moments.

I am the better for knowing all of you.

And especially to my beloved Kendall,
Who refuses to waste a moment of lifeno matter how hardin a pit.

You, Darling One, are my hero. Miss Beth loves you so much.

Contents

I have never recovered from the grace God has had on my messed up life. I have had a life long struggle with seeing value in myself but I can see tremendous value in those Hes brought along to partner with me in ministry. One way God has dealt with that handicapped part of me is to show me the excellence and holy passion of those who have been willing to work with me. In that strange round about way, God has shown me that, if people like them are willing to pour their time and energy into that project or ministry, God must be up to something worth something.

The list of hands to this plough is long. It also turned out to be an emotionally expensive project as most of the primary investors in all the areas necessary to editing and publishing were allowed by God to experience the message through an uncanny invitation to a pit of their own. We were able to resist because God faithfully equipped us and, in the process, we became more and more passionate about this message. Life is one invitation to the pit after another. Thats all there is to it. Thats why I thank you so much, Rob Birkhead, Betty Wood-mancy, Barb James, Kris Bearss, Jennifer Day, Amy Williams, and Scott Harris for making sure this message gets into the hands of the people, and Laura Kendall for writing the discovery guide questions that will help people get involved.

Jeana Ledbetter, my beloved friend, you took the hardest hit of all as these concepts were tested on us and you resisted best of all. No one worked harder on this project. You are an excellent woman and Christ is surely so taken with you. We are bonded for life.

Sealy Yates, you are my good buddy. Trustworthy indeed. Im crazy about you. Your emails always turn into daily devotionals for me.

Joey Paul and Byron Williamson, you stole my heart when you threw every effort and took every risk a missionary book like Voices of the Faithful poses. You are my dear brothers in Christ. As Sealy and Jeana can well attest, I never had any intention of publishing this book with anyone else. This is a Beth, Joey, Byron book.

Tom Williams and Leslie Peterson, thank you for your excellent editorial work. Its a much better book because of you. And thank you for not taking a chainsaw to my annoying conversational style. Ive never said I was much of a writer. Im just a lover of people. And a head-over-heels lover of Jesus Christ.

As I draw this long list to a conclusion, I save the deepest part of my heart for last. I am so deeply grateful to my co-laborers at Living Proof Ministries. I have no idea what Id do without you. Dont make me find out. You are my best friends in the world.

A lump wells in my throat as I thank Amanda and Melissa, my beloved daughters. I can only imagine how hard it has been at times to have a mom who makes her life, and consequently yours, an open book. You have never been anything but supportive while Ive told all manner of story on you. You are excellent young women and the most blatant proof of my life that God has redeemed the years the locusts have eaten.

Curt, my dear son-in-law, thank you for joining the madness. You are my favorite preacher.

Keith, my darling, you are my true partner in ministry and certainly in this message. Even after all weve been through, Id choose you over and over again just to get to the point we are now. I am still so in love with you. Lets have lots of grand-babies together.

And thank You, my faithful Savior, for pulling me out of the pit and for risking Your name on me. I adore You.

I am honored that my wife asked me to write this foreword. Youll soon understand why there is only one writer in our family. I met my wife nearly thirty years ago at a fraternity party. She was by far the most beautiful girl there. Still is. It was the start of an unlikely love affair that no one could understand. People were puzzled because we didnt seem to have anything in common.

When I was two and a half years old, my four-year-old brother, Duke, and I were caught in an explosion and trapped inside a burning garage. Quick action by my father saved my life. I literally saw my brother, Duke, burn to death.

Beth had her own trauma at an early age. We both tried to understand what had happened to us. She sought understanding by trying to find Jesus while I tried to find peace through Mans psychology.

Satan came for both of us very early. I guess he figured he could hurt more people by twisting us up than by killing us outright. What Satan meant for evil, however, God meant for good. He made the pain of our wounds so unbearable that we were willing to do anything to break out of the generational bondage that tried to hold us. You name it: alcoholism, betrayal, abandonment, depression, rage, sexual addiction, and almost anything else you can think of were our heritage. We fought hard with each other in our own version of what the Bible calls iron sharpening iron. I hurt so badly at times that I prayed God would let me die if my pain couldnt be used for some higher good.