Sunday, July 15, 2001
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Sunday, July 15, 2001 |
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Pitty Parties By DR. KNOX HERNDON
I was reading an e-mail from my good friend, Jeff Green, currently serving in Korea, and he writes about an article by Steve May. It is on Psalm 77. I believe it is worth sharing. In the movie "The Kid," Bruce Willis' character has a recurring line: when someone starts feeling sorry for themselves, he says, "Waaah! Someone call the waaambulance!" Then he says, "Do you know what the number one killer of [people in your situation] is? ... Self-pity!" There's no question that self-pity kills. It kills relationships, careers, dreams and possibilities. It causes us to lose sight of what can be, and focuses only on what is not to be. In the song "Better Days" Bruce Springsteen said: "Every fool's got a reason for feeling sorry for himself and turning his heart to stone ..." All of us, without exception, have experienced setbacks. We've all, at one time or another, been treated unfairly. It's part of the process of living. And all of us, I would venture to say, have given in, at some point, to self-pity. Even David was not immune. In Psalm 77, you can hear it in his words: "I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me ... and my soul refused to be comforted." (Psalm 77:1-2) "I thought about the former days, the years of long ago ... and my spirit mused: 'Will the Lord reject me forever?'" David then began to wonder: "Will God never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful?" (verses 7-9) David wasn't writing theology, he was pouring out his heart to God. He knew, as we also know, that God rejects no one. His promises never fail, and his mercy never ends yet these truths are easy to forget once we open the door to self-pity. In Psalm 77, David makes a crucial discovery: Instead of focusing on a bad situation, we need to focus on the goodness of God. He said, "I will remember the deeds of the Lord ... I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds." (verses 11-12) We have a tendency to meditate on our misery. The longer we do it, the more consumed with self-pity we become, and the farther we drift from the presence of God. Forget about all that's unfair in your life. Forget about your failures and your sins and your setbacks. Focus instead on the presence of God in your life. Think about the goodness he has shown to his people for generations, and offer him praise. As David said in another Psalm: "Praise the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits ... who forgives all your sins ... who redeems your life from the pit, who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103: 2-5) When God sent an angel to the Old Testament soldier Gideon, the first thing the angel said was: "I am the Lord your God who has brought you out of the land of Egypt!" I can remember in my own life in times of distress in moving around the world in the military that there was plenty of "pitty party" to go around if you were looking for it and some of it was pretty real. There was the assignment behind the Iron Curtain in West Berlin before the wall came down. There was Fairbanks, Alaska at 50 degrees below zero. I can also remember what a strong faith in an all-knowing, all-loving, ever present God can do to a good old pitty party. I can also remember how in times like these that if we let ourselves, we can hear the voice of God and feel his directive hand in the situation. Think about your own life, and how God comes to you often in the middle of the midnight hour when you have kicked holes in the sheets. A good "God remedy" is praise and thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving will kill a pitty party in a heart beat. Blessings. The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC) and a former Army chaplain. The church is just below Senoia on Ga. Highway 85, a mile past Ga. Highway 16 on the right just below the fire station. Visitors are welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365;e-mail KHERN2365@aol.com.
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