A Year With Oswald - Week 28

VERSE:  “Fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ.” 1 Thess. 3:2

OSWALD:  “I have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him… He can crumple me up or exalt me, He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil.” (November 10^th)

MY THOUGHT:  “Self-pity is of the devil,” Oswald says. Pretty harsh words to describe the emotionally cushy shroud I’m often tempted to wear. After all, self-pity is never completely unjustified. Life offers plenty of reasons to wall ourselves in with our pain so that we might lick our wounds and tend our battered egos.

In times like these, self-pity always appears to be a friend, tenderly wrapping itself around our bruised feelings and commiserating with our pain. Whispering how badly we’ve been treated and how we deserve to wallow in the sorrow of it all.

Usually I don’t recognize self-pity’s demonic origin because it seems the justifiable response. But whenever I feel the seductive weight of its comfort pushing me down, down, down, in my mood and in my feelings, I’ve learned to stop and reconsider my response. For entertaining self-pity is just one step away from being enslaved to it. Believe me I know. I’ve been down its slippery slopes a few times and it only leads to depression, discouragement and despair.

The cure to self-pity, you might ask? A new point of view. And a generous dose of faith.

“I have to learn that the aim in life is God’s, not mine,” Oswald writes. “God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him… He can crumple me up or exalt me, He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil.”

Has self-pity been knocking at your door lately, my friend? I’ve heard the doorbell several times over the last couple of weeks.

Though it’s been hard to master my emotions so I can exercise my faith, I’ve tried to respond to the Lord rather than resort to self-pity. Praying out loud with Oswald, “You can crumple me up or exalt me, You can do anything You choose. I trust You, Lord! I’m not going to give in to my situation. I’m going to give my situation to You!”