![\"Crying](\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20170523133746\/Crying_Baby.jpg\" "\\"Crying_Baby\\"")
Remember what getting sick was like when you were young?\u00a0 You got spend the entire day sleeping, reading, and watching TV.\u00a0 Your parents waited on you hand and foot. They brought you hot soup and cold compresses.\u00a0 Everyone spoke in comforting, sympathetic tones. And the best part\u2014no school.\u00a0 Even though you felt awful, there was something really nice about it. \u00a0Those were the days!<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t work like that as an adult, does it?\u00a0 I remember the first time I got the flu in college. It was terrible.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember anything about the illness itself, but I can tell you that there was no soup, there were no compresses, and my school work still had to be done.\u00a0 As far as I could see, the upsides of being sick had vanished.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that worst part of the experience was that I received very little sympathy. \u00a0My roommate didn\u2019t seem nearly as concerned for me as my mom would have been.\u00a0 And since I wasn\u2019t receiving the sympathy I thought I deserved, I showed sympathy for myself.<\/p>\n
There was a lot of whining and complaining.\u00a0 I moaned whenever I had to move.\u00a0 Every trip away from my bed happened in slow-motion.\u00a0 It was quite the production.\u00a0 If my performance had received a larger audience, I might have been nominated.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t been there, then good for you.\u00a0 But my guess is that most of us probably have. And we\u2019re not alone.\u00a0 The Bible shares the story of a prophet who had a similar response to his circumstances.<\/p>\n
1 Kings 19:2-3
\nJezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThis section of scripture reveals that Elijah fell prey to destructive thoughts that had many of the same markers as my first adult bout with illness.\u00a0 Sadly, prophets and college students aren\u2019t the only ones susceptible to this vicious form of thinking.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that can affect us all.\u00a0 We\u2019re talking about self-pity.<\/p>\n
Self-pity distorts our focus<\/h2>\n
The name says it all.\u00a0 When we engage in self-pity, we use our minds to pity ourselves.\u00a0 Life becomes all about how wonderful we are, how good we\u2019ve been, what we want, what we didn\u2019t get, who doesn\u2019t like us, and how we\u2019ve been mistreated.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like looking through a pair of binoculars.\u00a0 Binoculars magnify the objects on which they\u2019re focused.\u00a0 They help us get a close-up view of one part of the picture.\u00a0 And we get to see all of the details of that one particular part of the picture really well.\u00a0 But when we use binoculars, we miss out on everything else in the picture.<\/p>\n
Self-pity works just like that.\u00a0 Self-pity focuses on \u201cme\u201d\u2014on my wants, on my problems, on my hurts.\u00a0 And we can become so consumed with ourselves, that everything else is blocked from our view.<\/p>\n
This was Elijah\u2019s problem. When Jezebel threatened to kill him, He became consumed with the way he was being mistreated. He said\u2026<\/p>\n
1 Kings 19:10
\nI have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.\u00a0 The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.\u00a0 I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nNotice how self pity had restricted Elijah\u2019s view.\u00a0 He believed he was the only remaining person standing for God when, in fact, an upcoming verse reveals that there were over 7000 other people in Israel who were still trying to honor God (1 Kings 19:18).<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not the only thing Elijah missed.\u00a0 His myopic concern for self had closed his eyes to the fact that God had recently given him an unbelievable victory over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:16-40).\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see that God was graciously using him in powerful ways.<\/p>\n
God doesn\u2019t want our eyes on our circumstances.\u00a0 He wants our eyes on Him.<\/strong> When we focus on God, we\u2019re able to see much more of the whole picture. We\u2019re able to our lives from a different perspective.\u00a0 We\u2019re able to see His goodness, His strength, His sovereignty.\u00a0 And we\u2019re able to see that our problems are really all part of His plan.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very tough to remember this if we\u2019re overly concerned with\u00a0ourselves.<\/p>\n
Self-Pity Pollutes our Speech<\/h2>\n
Jesus said, \u201cFor the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart\u201d (Matthew 12:34).\u00a0 Once Elijah\u2019s pity party began, it wasn\u2019t long before the soundtrack cranked up.\u00a0 Elijah began complaining, \u201cLord I\u2019ve tried to stand for you when everyone else was deserting you.\u00a0 And now you\u2019re allowing people to try to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was Elijah in a tough situation?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Was it fun having the queen of Israel make threats against him?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 But was he without hope?\u00a0 Absolutely not.<\/p>\n
He had the God of heaven on his side.\u00a0 And instead of saying \u201cWoe is me! My life is so terrible,\u201d he should have been thinking about the best ways to honor God in His situation.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not what he did. And that\u2019s not what most of us do. Most of us like to complain. And some of us are really good at it.<\/p>\n
“I don\u2019t like this.” \u00a0“How come I didn\u2019t get more of that?”\u00a0\u00a0“Why don\u2019t you treat me the way I want to be treated?”\u00a0 “When are you going to stop doing that and start doing what I want?”<\/p>\n
For some of us, nothing is ever good enough.\u00a0 If we\u2019re not careful, we can become so focused on ourselves that we end up treating others as if the only reason they exist is to serve us. We certainly wouldn\u2019t want to hang around people like that, but we tend to ignore these tendencies in ourselves.\u00a0 Being a complainer is one of the quickest ways to drive others away and mar your testimony for Christ.<\/p>\n
Complaining is\u00a0also one of the surest ways to blend in with the crowd.\u00a0 If you want to stand out, if you want to make a strong impression for God on other people, you only have to do one radical thing.\u00a0 Refuse to complain.<\/strong> The apostle Paul said,<\/p>\n
Philippians 2:14-15
\nDo all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAccording to Paul, if you refuse to be a complainer, you\u2019re going to shine like a light in the midst of a dark world.\u00a0 People will notice.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll have the opportunity to be a testimony for God.<\/p>\n
But this begins with our thinking.\u00a0 We have to get root out all the self-pity from our lives. We need to stop focusing on ourselves and our problems and start focusing on God, his goodness, and the best ways to fulfill His plan for our lives.<\/p>\n
Calling Off the Pity Party<\/h2>\n
I want to suggest a couple of ways to reverse this destructive form of thinking.\u00a0 First, we need to recognize that we\u2019ll never be able to change on our own<\/strong>.\u00a0 Like Elijah, we need God on our side.\u00a0 Or more correctly, we need to be on God\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
That starts with embracing Christ as Savior and Lord.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve never done that, or if you\u2019re not sure if you\u2019ve done that, I\u2019d encourage you to talk someone that you know to be a follower of Christ.\u00a0 Ask that person what the Bible has to say about getting right with God.\u00a0 You could also schedule a time with a member of our staff.\u00a0 There’s nothing more important than making sure you’ve got this issue nailed down.<\/p>\n
Second, I would encourage you to begin cultivating a spirit of thankfulness.\u00a0 Start simply by making a list of all the things God has done for you.\u00a0 Keep that list by your bedside.\u00a0 Read it several times a week.\u00a0 Add one or two things to the list each time you read it.\u00a0 And here\u2019s the important part–thank God for those things regularly.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to walk the path of self-pity if you\u2019ve developed a thankful heart.<\/p>\n
1 Thessalonians 5:18
\nGive thanks in all circumstances for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat are some other practical ways we can cultivate a spirit of thankfulness?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The name says it all. When we engage in self-pity, we use our minds to pity ourselves. Life becomes all about how wonderful we are, how good we\u2019ve been, what we want, what we didn\u2019t get, who doesn\u2019t like us, and how we\u2019ve been mistreated.<\/p>\n
This spring, we’re taking our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders through a series called Thinking Like Christ. Based on John Vandegriff’s helpful book In the Arena of the Mind, we\u2019re encouraging students to recognize the sinful patterns of thinking that exist in their lives and to replace those patterns with the forms of thinking outlined in Philippians 4:8. The goal of this study is to help kids use their minds in ways that will produce godly habits of living. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Poor Me - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/poor-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poor Me - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The name says it all. When we engage in self-pity, we use our minds to pity ourselves. Life becomes all about how wonderful we are, how good we\u2019ve been, what we want, what we didn\u2019t get, who doesn\u2019t like us, and how we\u2019ve been mistreated. This spring, we're taking our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders through a series called Thinking Like Christ. Based on John Vandegriff's helpful book In the Arena of the Mind, we\u2019re encouraging students to recognize the sinful patterns of thinking that exist in their lives and to replace those patterns with the forms of thinking outlined in Philippians 4:8. 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He has been married to his wife Deb since 2001. They have two children named Noah and Lauren. Originally from Texas, Trey appreciates barnwood, armadillos, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/author\/tgarner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Poor Me - Faith Church Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/poor-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Poor Me - Faith Church Blog","og_description":"The name says it all. When we engage in self-pity, we use our minds to pity ourselves. Life becomes all about how wonderful we are, how good we\u2019ve been, what we want, what we didn\u2019t get, who doesn\u2019t like us, and how we\u2019ve been mistreated. 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