Rags that Rescue)

Who is holding your rope?

Jeremiah 38:7–13 “Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.”

Not every season is for everyone to see and not everyone who sees you in the pit is assigned to help you out. Some are spectators. Some are relief bearers

The people you allow close to you can influence your rescue story

Everyone has a Pit

Jeremiah was thrown into a pit

but here’s what I love about this story

Jeremiah was a man of God and he was still in a pit

Being in a pit doesn’t mean you don’t love God

you can love God and still experience

The pit of depression

The pit of anxiety

The pit of oppression

the pit of marriage trouble

The pit of friendship loss

The pit of family troubles

The pit of sickness

The pit of financial hardship

The pit of disappointment

the pit of rejection

the pit of loneliness

Some pits are caused by other people’s decisions

some are caused by circumstances

Some are seasons God allows you to walk through But here’s the good news

Your pit doesn't have to become your permanent address

Everybody can see you in the pit but everybody isn’t assigned to rescue you

Jeremiah 38 tells us that Ebed-Melech heard Jeremiah was in a pit

There were people who knew

There were people who could see

But one man decided: I’m going to do something about it

That’s the difference between a spectator and a relief bearer

a spectator says I see you a relief bearer says I’m coming for you a spectator asks what happened a relief bearer says where’s the rope?

a spectator discusses your pit but a relief bearer helps you get out of it

Not every season is for everyone to see

Stop giving everybody access to your pit

Everybody doesn’t need to know what you’re going through

Everybody doesn’t need your marriage story

Everybody doesn’t need to know about your finances

Everybody doesn’t need to know what you’re battling emotionally

Everybody doesn’t need to know what you’re praying about

Some seasons are private

There are things God is doing in you that don’t need an audience Your struggle doesn’t need spectators

It needs intercessors It needs relief bearers

it needs people who can hold the rope

Your friends can determine your rescue story

Jeremiah’s rescue story involved another person God could have pulled Jeremiah out Himself

But God chose to use Ebed-Melech

That means sometimes God answers your prayer by sending a person

you prayed God help me God sends a friend

you prayed god I'm tired and somebody calls you

you prayed God I can’t do this anymore and somebody says yes you can I’m standing with you

Sometimes your miracle has somebody else’s fingerprints on it

That’s why you have to be careful who you call a friend

The right friend knows how to handle your wounds

Ebed-melech didn’t just throw a rope down

He brought old rags and worn-out clothes and put them under Jeremiah's arms

why?

Because Jeremiah was vulnerable

The rope could pull him out but the rags kept the rope from hurting him

Because some people know how to pull you but they don’t know how to handle you

The wrong person will use your wounds against you

The right person will cover your wounds while helping you heal

The wrong friend says

Girl, let me tell you what everybody is saying

The right friend says lets pray

The wrong friend exposes you

The right friend covers you

The wrong friend reminds you of your past the right friend reminds you of your purpose

Your pit will reveal your people

When you’re blessed everybody can celebrate you

When you’re on the mountaintop everybody wants to take pictures with you

When you're succeeding everybody wants to be around you

But let trouble come let the marriage get difficult let the diagnosis come let the money get tight let depression hit let anxiety overwhelm you let your heart get broken let the friendship end

then watch who pics up the rope

Because your blessing reveals your crowd and your pit reveals your covenant people

Everybody who celebrates you isn’t necessarily assigned to carry you

Stop expecting spectators to become relief bearers

Some women are angry because someone didn’t help them

But perhaps God is saying They were never assigned to hold your rope

Everybody isn’t your ebed-molech

Some people are simply spectators in that season

They saw it

They knew it

They ay have even talked about it

But they weren’t assigned to rescue you

Don’t spend your healing season angry at people who weren’t assigned to your rescue

Instead thank God for the one who were

And then God will make you a relief bearer

Whose rope Am I holding

Because somewhere there is a woman siting in a pit you already survived

You survived that divorce You survived that heartbreak You survived that financial season You survived that lonely season

You survived that sickness

You survived that depression you survived that betrayal

And now your scars qualify you to recognize somebody else cry

You are somebody’s Ebed-melech

God is saying Pick up the rope

Look at the woman beside you

You don’t know what pit she may be fighting

She may be smiling while she’s drowning She may be worshipping while she’s hurting

She maybe encouraging everybody else while secretly needing encouragement herself

We are not going to be a room full of spectators we are going to be women who hold the rope

Women who pray who cover who encourage who tell the truth who show up who don’t gossip about the pit who help pull somebody out

Not everybody needs to see your pit not everybody need access to your pain

not everybody who sees you struggling is assigned to rescue you

some are spectators some are relief bearers

discern the difference some can pull you deeper

but the right one can help pull you out

When someone holds your rope hold theirs

when they pray for you pray for them when they cover you cover them

I will not die in the pit

My pit is not my permanent place

The same god who sent Ebed-Melech is sending relief bearers today

If you are in a pit come tonight let us pray for you.