In a Hole

Will Rogers said, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Why do otherwise intelligent adults seem to ignore this outlook? The farther down they dig, the less daylight they have on the situation, and the worse off they make things. They cannot even hear corrective measures from those who would rescue them and the situation they have created.

I observe that adults in this predicament primarily cannot admit they are wrong. At the first twinge of conscience or the first doubt about their actions, they should have investigated, reflected, and done an “about face.” God calls this “repentance.” But, instead, pride, or shame brings these persons to the place where they begin to “cover up” their wrongful deeds. They use a shovel to dig more dirt, and end up digging further down in the hole. The longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to get out of the hole.

Sometimes people in a hole of their own making cry out for sympathy from onlookers. They try to reason that this digging is a necessary remedy, that they really do have the right idea. They dig deeper, and before they know it, others have fallen into the pit with them. They convince each other that they can get out by burrowing a tunnel or by hunkering down together.

But God has made a way for people in this kind of predicament to get out. Corrie Ten Boom said, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” He can and will rescue us if we humble ourselves and cry out to Him. He always hears the honest prayer of His children. So, if you are in a hole of your own making, pick up the ladder of confession He provides instead of the shovel of pride. God will meet you on the first rung!