Antidote to Self-Pity – Service to Others
Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it, I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Oswald Chambers
We all face situations in our daily lives that might cause us to feel sorry for ourselves. We might even succumb to self-pity. When this occurs, we become inward-looking. We concentrate on our discomfort and how our lives are being disrupted. Everything tends to be exaggerated, and we fail to see the bigger picture. I would like to share a story that Corrie ten Boom recounts in one of her books. This story demonstrates how easily we can fall into self-pity.
“I was in Japan, very tired, with a stomach that was upset from the unusual food. How I longed for a good European meal, a table where I would not have to sit cross-legged on the floor, and a soft bed instead of the hard mats the Japanese sleep on. I was filled with self-pity. I wanted to go back to Holland!
That night in church, while I was busy feeling sorry for myself, I saw a man in a wheelchair. After the service, my interpreter took me down to meet the man. His face wore the happiest expression I could imagine. ‘What are those little packets on your lap?’ I asked the man, pointing to several packages wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. He broke into a wide grin and tenderly unwrapped one of the packages. It was a sheath of pages covered with Braille, the raised script of the blind. ‘This is the Gospel of John, written in Braille. I have just finished it,’ he said. ‘How did you come to do this?’
‘Do you know about the Bible women here in Japan?’ he asked. ‘Bible women go from village to village, bringing copies of the Bible, books and literature to those who are hungry for God. Our Bible woman is very ill with a lung disease, but she travels every week to sixteen villages, even though she will soon die. When I heard about it, I asked the Lord what I could do to help her. Although my legs are paralysed, and I cannot get out of the wheelchair, in many ways I am healthier than she. God showed me that though her hands are shaky and my legs paralysed, I could be the hands and she the legs.’
I left the church that night filled not with self-pity, but with shame. Here I was with two good legs for travelling all over the world, two good lungs and two good eyes, complaining because I didn’t like the food. These people had discovered the cure to self-pity – service to others.”
I would like to challenge you to take the focus off your discomfort and the things you feel are disrupting your life. Instead, look to the Lord and ask Him to show you whom you can serve. When you do, He will give you the resources and the ability to do it so that He will be glorified.
Peter 4:10 (ESV) says,
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection
Think about the things you encounter that cause discomfort or temporarily disrupt your life, that might give you reason to feel sorry for yourself. Think about how you can serve others to the glory of God.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for coming into this world to serve and to give Your life for me. Thank You for dying on the cross so that I can be saved. Forgive me, Lord, for giving in to self-pity. Forgive me for not seeing the bigger picture. Forgive me for not seeing those around me who may need help. Open my eyes to see those You want me to serve. I pray that my service will bring glory to Your name. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
