I go searching, hoping that the word pity party is somewhere in the bible.
I want to know who had them and why so I can join them. I want to sit with Elijah under the broom tree, call all my friends going through tough stuff and have a big, fat wallowing party.
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I’ve had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he layed down under the tree and fell asleep. 1 Kings 19:3-5
Anyone else been there? You know the place of just one thing after another, the place of not knowing what the heck God is up to, the place of just being flat-out exhausted.
My father passed in March, I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath, and now my mom has been dealing with chronic illnesses and hospital stays.
Last week she broke her hip and wrist as we were getting ready to leave for vacation to TN. A trip we’ve been planning for months, that we already had to re-schedule. Now she is in rehab, discouraged, in pain, and we are both exhausted from the journey.
Many of you are in this same place. Taking care of sick loved ones, dealing with chronic pain and illness yourself and saying, “you’re preaching to the choir sister.”
So, what do we do in this place? Well, last night a hot fudge sundae seemed to do the trick.
For a minute.
I found it interesting as I got out my Jesus Calling book today, I went back to a June reading when mom was here recovering from pneumonia.
One day as I was reading she said, “I feel you are supposed to read the day before to me.” This is what it said:
Fast forward a month this was yesterday’s reading:
Let’s go back to the story of Elijah.
After God puts Elijah to sleep for a bit, feeds him, let’s him rest, he sends him to Horeb. (mountain of God). God sends a great wind, earthquake and fire, and is in none of them but, a gentle whisper. The question He asks him twice?
“What are you doing here Elijah?”
He’s checking Elijah’s heart and his trust in Him. He tells him to go to back to where he came and finish his mission.
Today if we are in the hard place of “enough” and exhaustion, the Lord may be whispering to our hearts,
“Where are you in this?”
We all are going to do the self-pity thing friends. We are human. We will go there and maybe park there for a while and (eat about 50,000 carbohydrates) but may we not stay there.
I have never found anything worth while in a pit of feeling sorry for myself.
A few days before mom broke her hip she was reading me an article about the sacrifice of praise. It spoke of praising God when it doesn’t come easy, when you are in the valley and it truly feels like a sacrifice to praise Him.
Simple, eh? Not easy.
It may take us awhile to get there– we may have to eat hot fudge sundaes, complain ten thousand times, but after we have exhausted all else, may we press through the pit of self-pity and praise Him.
Thanksgiving is our only way out.
May we reach for our Savior’s hand.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
I’ve come to expect to be encouraged by you dear Holly!
Your heart and spirit overflow with wisdom and truth!
Thank you AGAIN!
Thank you Dawn, you have become quite the encourager to me! 🙂 Blessings to you today friend. xo
I’m with you … it can feel very frustrating when you are not sure what God is up to. I am in a season of life right now where I feel like God is leading me somewhere, but I don’t know how to get there. But I am trusting in Him to show me the way and thanking Him for every trial along the way. Each day is indeed a gift! God bless you Holly!
Lauren,
Thanks for coming by! Prayers for your journey friend that God will use every trial for His purposes and glory. xoxo
Boy, was that ever timely. Thank you for sharing. I no longer feel as if I’m the only one down in the valley. For the past 21 months I’ve tried to climb out of that valley. Just when I get my hands on the edge, something pushes me back down. I’m tired and worn out,. I’m trying to see what God wants me to learn from it all, but the view is blurry. I so want to know. I know that God has a plan for me. I have faith that he does. Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for the positives in my life. It’s just that the negatives are bigger. As I go through my day I thank God for my blessings, no matter how small. I remind myself that it could be worse and that in the scheme like life my troubles are momentary and I will prevail. Holly, I love appreciate your posts. Thank you for sharing your faith and love for God.
Shelly,
Your analogy of the view being blurry is perfect. I can so relate with that! One thing we have hope in is like the Apostle Paul said, here we see through the glass dimly, but one day dear friend, we shall see crystal clear. Everything will be made known to us! May we press through and hold onto that and our Savior! Blessings to you friend! xo