The Pity Party

God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? Psalm 62:1.

I had a pity party yesterday. I felt sorry for myself. Nothing is going as planned. Why should I an innocent, suffer? What is this all about? God, are you teaching me to be patient? Is there’s something better, as we like to say to cheer ourselves, or is this just life; and bad things happen to good people.

I hope not. I have seen bad things happen to good people. It is not pretty and it is not fair. My friends and my colleagues feel my pain too.  But soon they will forget. They have to forget, and life for them will go on as before. But the ones that suffer—suffer still.

Richard H. Schmidt writes: “When we let our happiness depend on some future event, often something unlikely to happen and perhaps something that wouldn’t be best for us anyway, our waiting becomes tense and anxious. The key to waiting contentedly is to focus upon God.”* God, I am definitely focused on you-‘yeah right!’

Max Lucado writes: “(God) said no to good things so (God) could say yes to the right thing….”** I am wondering what that right thing is for me? You have been there too, huh.  

God, I had a pity party yesterday and I want to have another one today. But you know what; I will fight this ‘poor me’ syndrome. I am better than this. I have choices. I choose to embrace the positive and even find good in this bad. This is what I know:

  • God alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:2.
  • For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.

So God, I am reminded that I am on a journey. This wonderful journey; a journey that requires me to be attuned to every facet of my life; an opportunity to yearn and learn, to dream the impossible; an opportunity to re-think my direction, but more than anything; to trust you, to put my faith into action, to live out Psalm 23:1: “you are my shepherd and I have everything I need.”

Who needs a pity party?

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*Richard H. Schmidt. Praises Prayers & Curses Conversations with the Psalms. 2005, p. 123.

**Max Lucado. Cure for the Common Life. 2005, p. 106.

5 thoughts on “The Pity Party”

  1. Perhaps God is testing your faith not for him or yourself but for others. Using your faith as a teaching tool. I know you have asked ” Well God I have been your faithful follower.. Why me ? I have done nothing wrong. And maybe like me you want to throw temper tantrum and scream ” I have done nothing wrong”. Why are you picking on me God ? Over the last three years I have asked the same questions ? Why does my sister have cancer ? Why am I labored with my mother ? Why can’t things go back to the way they were. Things will never be the same. But I know, there is a new beginning. You know it is said God is always talking to us and all we have to is listen. I know, I am following a path and one day I will have the answers even tho I cannot see them at the moment. The holy parent will always provide a way.

  2. Wow… I have truly been here Tony and you know what I survived it. However, as I look around at my life now it is so different from what I thought it would be. Once I put down my own will…that is when the will of God began to move through my life. I was destined to do things that I could not imagine. I was destined to do things that I could not do on my own and that appears to be right where God wants us….doing the impossible with Him.

    My life at all points is different from what I thought to be my best life…. point is… only He can take you to your best life and it is the impossible—that is how you know it is Him….

    Trust Him with everything… He ONLY fulfills His own will— not ours…

  3. Toniy

    It sounds like we are learning the same lessons at this moment. I am being forced to be patience, to recognize that I am not in control of my life…God is. And like Sheila, I too thought I would have a different life. Totally different. And this illness scares the heck out of me because I never imagined a life where I am somewhat dependent on others now and could possibly fully be dependent on someone down the road. So everything I am experiencing at work and in my personal life is definitely a test of my faith. I, too asked the same question…As much good as I do for other people, how could how and why are these things happening to me?

    Well today, I can confidently say that he is preparing us for something that is more divine. He is preparing us to do the work he has set before us the day we where conceived. And yes Bad things happen to Good people to provide us with the hindsight, foresight, the courage, the backbone, the wisdom and knowledge to move forward. We obviously, have a lot of work to do because I believe if that was not the case then he would not be working on us at all. We would be happy being stagnate and complacent. It takes some things to happen in our lives to trigger our passions, to allow us to dream bigger and actually have the guts to pursuit the desire’s of our hearts. You are very good man who has a lot of integrity, something which I find is a rare commodity these days. And right now you are in a better place professionally, mentally and spiritually than you were before. This I am sure of and I can tell you why in an email or a phone convo. But one door closed and look at the freedom and vast amount of opportunities starring you in the face. So I tell you like I tell my self every morning when I actually have to truly encourage myself to get up and go work (this is a new one for me too): Have Faith, Be Patient and Obey his word. You know his word because it is within you and you will positively know which direction to take. And do not second guess yourself. That is another thing I am currently learning. You are fully aware of who you are and your strong points. Do not allow other people’s foolishness to blind side you. So do you Toni! I am very proud to have worked for you and I feel honored to be able to connect with you in this capacity. And I thank you for everything you have done for me.

    1. Thanks for your response Falasha. It is full of wisdom. Let’s continue to mentor and support each other and in the process we will be an inspiration to many others. I will give you my phone number via your private FB account.

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