I cried to the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me out of the pit!

To the roots of the mountains, I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. You brought my life up from the pit, O lord my God. Jonah 2:6

A young girl finds that she had fallen into a very deep well, she doesn't know how long she was there
or even how she got there, all she knows is that she is stuck. Like a bird in a cage, at first she flounders around looking for a quick escape, the easy way is really so much easier said that done.She spends so much time worrying and in such a great sense of constant anxiety, she doesn't know that  peace is so close, so near, she can almost touch it, yet feels like it is always achievable.

At last she finds a ladder, inconspicuous , she is relieved, finally she will be free. She starts climbing, higher and higher she goes, one more rung, and I will be there she ponders, but painstakingly , each rung only becomes more tiring, more weary, and she becomes discouraged. She at last reaching what she thinks is the top, but there are 20 more rungs nonetheless , she must climb. Let go she hears a still small voice say, it's okay, I will catch you, don't worry. She fights this at first , I can't let go I am almost there she screams into the darkness, just leave me alone. I can do it, I am almost there. Just trust me, I will catch you if you fall, I will carry you to safety. The exhausted girl takes a deep breath, and let's go. In a state of panic, she realizes that she is fallen, she has let go, and she will break when she reaches the ground. She closes her eyes, accepting the tragedy that will be the death of her, but to her surprise she feels two strong arms catch her midway down. She holds on for dear life, eyes still closed, heart still racing. She opens her eyes again, and she is standing on a rock, looking down, and that great well, that almost crushed her. Inside she feels crushed too, even though she never hit the bottom, she feels something shattered inside, she takes off running, faster and faster she runs, hoping that running will make her feel free again. She suddenly stops short, and there he is a few hundred feet away. His gaze meets her eyes, and she looks away, in shame.

 But His eyes are piercing, and as he gazes at her something miraculous starts to happen, she starts to feel herself become whole again, all her brokenness she carried starts to lift, and as she looks more at this person she starts to feel waves hitting her one after the next, Love is coming, it's being poured out over all her wounds, it's seeping into the crevices and cracks. As she looks at His pierced hands, she stares at her own. His hands start to become her hands, and His story is now hers. She is His beloved, and He is hers. Her deliverer, the one that pulled her out of the pit, the one that has been singing over her from the moment she was conceived, has now become her salvation. She is not afraid any more, for His perfect love, has vanquished all of her fears, she is clothed in a robe of righteousness, she looks down at her old cloak , dirty, ridden with all her shame, and she looks up at Jesus, perfect love, and now upright, confident that her life was, always has been, and always will be in his hands