I. Healing: Like Pulling a Pet From a Pit
Have you fallen in a pit?
Well, God wants you out of it!
It’s an awful place to sit.
So, if you’ve taken a hit,
Read the gospels and you’ll see:
It is God’s will to make you free.
He wants you to be whole
(In spirit, body and soul).
Jesus compares healing to saving a life and to pulling a pet from a pit. See the following examples:
I. The Man With the Withered Hand
One time in a synagogue He saw a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees asked him if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath. They wanted to accuse him. (see Matthew 12:10.
Jesus answered by asking what they’d do if their sheep fell into a pit on the sabbath. Wouldn’t he lift it out? He then adds (in verse 12) that a man is better than a sheep and that it is lawful to do well on the sabbath. Jesus then had the man stretch his hand out and it was made whole.
(In Mark 3:4 Jesus knows their thoughts and equates healing with doing good and saving lives.
II. The Man With Dropsy (Edema)
The second time where Jesus compares healing a man to pulling an animal from a pit is in Luke 14:1-5
In this case, a chief Pharisee had invited him to his house to eat bread on the sabbath day. There was a man there who had “the dropsy” (edema). In this case, Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. They didn’t say anything. Jesus healed the man and let him go. Then he answered his own question concerning the healing by asking what they’d do if their ass or ox fell into a pit on the Sabbath day. Wouldn’t they pull it out right away?
(Methinks the answer be “yes”)
So, we see that healing is compared to pulling an animal out of a pit. It is also compared to saving a life, rather than killing it. Jesus is all about saving lives, not killing them.
Do you find yourself in a pit,
(And you know it doesn’t fit)?
Despair may be its name.
Getting out is no game.
But there are steps you can take
To get a faster “break.”
To get out of the pit, you must know God wants you out of it. He doesn’t want you depressed, defeated, or gripped with despair. Take a look around and see:
I. Recognize That This Pit Does Not Define You
Not much light gets down into the bottom of a pit. You can’t really see much of anything down there. Any reflection bouncing off those bumpy walls is bound to be distorted. This pit is not a magic mirror. It can’t show you who you are. Anything you see in there is bound in misery: a mind set on the flesh and all its failings.
For to be carnally minded (focused on the flesh) is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
When you focus on yourself, you tend to see the bad stuff. And focusing on the bad just leads you deeper into that pit. How can you climb out if you’re focused on how bad you are?
That attitude, I believe, is what causes talents to get buried. That’s what happens when you let your pit define you. But Jesus wants you out of that pit, which brings us to the next step:
II. Know You Can’t Get Out the Same Way You Got In
People fall and/or get thrown into pits. I doubt that few decide to jump in, but those that do cannot get out that way. The force of gravity makes it easy to slide, fall or leap into a pit. Doubt and discouragement do the pushing. Gravity does the pulling. To get out of the pit requires that you resist all those things. Resistance involves work, a true fight of faith. Are you up for the challenge?
The faith you need to wage that sort of resistance comes from God’s promises, as written in His Word. This brings us to the next step:
III. Get a Vision for Overcoming
Proverbs 29:18 tells us that “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The best vision we can have, of course, is that of Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 instructs us to keep our eyes on Him who is the author and finisher of our faith.
“For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son (Jesus), that whosoever believes in him (Jesus) should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
I John 5:4-5 For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Our faith in Jesus is the vision that enables us to overcomes the world!
Signs, Wonders, Miracles 
One thought on “Like Pulling a Pet From a Pit: Healing”