[ROOTED] deeper still. (the place even lower than rock bottom)

deeper still:

by danita jenae

some say it’s good when you hit rock bottom.

they say you can only go up from there.

do they not recall the pain of every ligament and sinew,

every joint displaced from being dashed on the bottom rock?

do they not know that there is a place far lower?

weary bones, a frail frame, lifting rock after rock,

digging down down down

and deeper still.

throwing heavy earth up to heaven.

there is a place lower than the rock.

you only get there after hitting that rock like a madman,

over and over and over.

pounding, beating, praying,

endure, persevere!

but it just gets dimmer, darker and darker,

and deeper still.

one heave and hoe and heavy stone at a time

with every stone, you hope against hope.

surely… this time… breakthrough?

no.

deeper still we must go.

some earth gives way to surrender.

hitting the rock over and over and over,

trusting, enduring, praying, waiting.

surely… this time… breakthrough?

no.

deeper still we must go.

but you do look up and see how much deeper

you have gotten since you first had fallen.

and you pray and praise and thank God anyways.

then one day, you realize—this ain’t no pit!

you’ve been digging a well!

“with great joy, you will drink deeply

from the well of salvation.”

then you look back again

at all the times you died to yourself,

at every time you dropped down and fell.

Salvation springs up

and grace really is enough.

dead to myself—

alive in Christ, so all is well!