Genesis 37:24
"And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it."
What a hopeless feeling Joseph must have felt as he was in this pit surrounded by those who wanted to see him die.
Joseph had done nothing to deserve to be thrown into the pit, but sadly his brothers hated him so much that they threw him into this pit so they could get rid of him.
If the verse above is all that we had on Joseph's life, that pit would have been the tragic end of a good young man's life. Yet, the story continues in Genesis 39:2 when it says, "And the LORD was with Joseph..." Though this pit had no water and was empty, it was filled with a presence, and that presence was the LORD. Though others forsook Joseph, the LORD was with him. Though the pit was lonely and without human interaction, it was filled with heavenly interaction with the LORD Himself. The LORD didn't send an angel to be with Joseph, but He came Himself to be with him. It was the presence of the LORD that helped Joseph live through that pit.
Has life cast you into a pit? What is the pit that you face today? Maybe your pit is a family member who is breaking your heart. Maybe your pit is the doctor's report of a deadly health issue that only a miracle of God can fix. Maybe your pit is a lonely home that you go to each night because your spouse has graduated to Heaven. Maybe your pit is the single life that you wish you could leave for a spouse. Maybe your pit is facing your schoolmates on a daily basis. Maybe your pit is that the home in which you live is filled with drugs and alcohol. We could try to mention every calamity that people face, but what we all must understand is that we all will have a pit that life has cast us into.
The good news about this pit is that you are not in it alone. You need to understand that just like the LORD was with Joseph in his pit, He is also with you in yours. Friend, the pit that you face every day of your life is truly not empty if you will look beyond what your pit took from you and look to the presence of the LORD that is with you. Though nobody may quite understand the depths of your pit, you must understand that God understands it because He is with you while you are in it.
You have a choice. You can either let the pit take your life or you can decide to live while you are in the pit. You can look at the emptiness of your pit, or you can look at the presence in your pit. How you face your pit will ultimately determine what comes out of that pit. If you let your pit take your joy, then your pit has become your casket. If you realize you still have a reason to have joy in your life because of the presence of the LORD, then that pit is only a stepping stone for greater usefulness.
Because Joseph did not let the pit that he faced destroy his spirit and obedience towards God, it became a stepping stone to propel him towards great position in Egypt. What was supposed to be a death bed truly became a stepping stone all because he did not focus on the emptiness of human accessories, instead he focused on the presence of the LORD. Your pit can be the thing the LORD uses to propel you into a greater ministry for Him if you will simply keep doing right. I don't know how long you will have to live with your pit, but you must look beyond it and keep serving the LORD with a good spirit. Until your pit is taken from you, I encourage you to console yourself in the presence of the LORD, and let His presence take you to greater heights for Him.