In this life, there are times when you just find yourself in a pit – and it doesn’t even have to be your own doing that gets you tripping into such a hole.

Just ask the lady whose car fell into the sinkhole that suddenly emerged beneath her on Tanjong Katong road over the weekend. Thank God she was able to climb out of the car, and for the brave migrant workers who helped to pull her out.

Anyway, all this talk about troublesome holes got us thinking about other folks in the Bible who found themselves in the pits of life. Let’s look to these hole-y men’s stories for insight and hope for when you find yourselves sinking…

1. Joseph cast into the pit

We are familiar with how Joseph was cast into the pit. His brothers hated him because of his haughtiness and wanted to kill him and fling him into the pit, before lying to their father that Joseph had been slain by a wild animal.

Still, there are other lessons beyond the usual ones that we can draw from this episode.

Reuben wanted to save Joseph. Speaking up to his other murderous brothers, it was Reuben who suggested not to kill Joseph first but to throw him into the cistern.

The idea was to stall for time, and later rescue Joseph from the brothers and take him back to his father. But the other brothers ended up selling Joseph to the Midianite merchants before Reuben could execute his rescue plan.

What we can learn from this is that if you are going to stand for the right thing, go all the way.

Reuben should have killed the evil plot as it grew, not merely hamper it. He wanted to do the right thing while not risking the ire of his brothers, but what is right will often cost us our standing in the eyes of the world.

In a parallel to Jesus’ journey, Joseph was betrayed, stripped and left to die. But that wasn’t the end of his story. Joseph was raised from the pit and prison, and put into the palace as prime minister.

Even though Joseph’s own brothers sought to defeat God’s dreams, God’s purposes would not be thwarted. God’s dreams cannot be destroyed. It is He who is faithful and powerful to keep the dream going when it looks for all the world like we are finished. 

2. Daniel in the lions’ den

What could possibly be worse than falling into a pit that’s filling up with water? Being flung into a pit full of lions. That was Daniel’s fate after jealous government officials conspired against him, laying a trap that would make King Darius have to punish him for praying.

Daniel was an excellent and upright official, and that alone was enough to entice jealous attacks. So while we strive to live peaceably and with integrity, we should not be surprised when we come under fire for merely doing what is right in God’s eyes.

Faithfulness has a cost. In Daniel’s time, it was being potentially being mauled and eaten by lions. For us, it might not be as expensive… perhaps something like having to take two buses to get to the prayer meeting. Daniel paid his – will we pay ours?

The next morning, King Darius runs over to the den to discover that Daniel made it through the night. “God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions,” Daniel declares.

“They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” 

We see that God backs up His children when they live by faith and with integrity; Daniel was the same person in the palace courts, in his prayer room, and in the lions’ den. May we strive for this sort of consistency in our own lives that wins over kings.

3. Jeremiah sinking in the cistern

Jeremiah had a difficult word from God that he had to speak to Jerusalem: Whoever remains in this city will surely die, but those who surrender will live. It was a mortally dangerous message to preach within a besieged city – but he delivered it anyway in obedience to God.

For that, the princes of the city conspired against Jeremiah, cowardly seeking to take his life without shedding his blood by petitioning the king to let them plop the prophet into a muddy cistern where starvation and exposure would finish the job.

In a world where those who should know better do not act, or even act unrighteously, the traveler and the migrant are so often the ones who do not hesitate to act for compassion and justice.

That would have been the end for the Weeping Prophet had it not been for Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who went to the king to condemn the evil these princes had done and to petition for Jeremiah’s rescue. One foreigner against the princes of the land. 

And Ebed-Melech went about it thoughtfully, telling Jeremiah to place the old rags and worn-out clothes he had provided under his arms so that the ropes would not cut into him as he was being lifted out.

In a world where those who should know better do not act, or even act unrighteously, the traveler and the migrant are so often the ones who do not hesitate to act in compassion and justice.

Much like what happened in Tanjong Katong, it was a foreigner who was responsible for the rescue within the pit. It was migrant workers who saved the children in the River Valley fire, migrant workers who climbed up buildings to save toddlers.

In our country, we should honour and protect guests like these who come to serve and to provide for their families – and who bravely rescue anyone in need.

Do you feel like you are stuck in a pit today? Take heart from the fact that God sees you, and that you are not alone. For more stories of hope: