July 7 - Self-Pity or Hope

July 7 – Self-Pity or Hope

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5)

Can you sense when you’re beginning to lose control of your sensibilities and you are spiraling into a period of defeat and depression?

For some of us at certain ages, it is hormonal. There seems to be absolutely nothing I can do about it.  I see it coming on, I recognize that the thoughts I have are completely insane, but I can’t seem to manage them.  I lash out, I cry (a lot), I feel sorry for myself.  It can get ugly and miserable.

Fortunately, I also know that in day or so, the hormones will relax their control of my emotions and I’ll be back to normal. 

There are times for many of us, though that depression and misery refuses to subside. Wallowing in self-pity and despair seems to be an appropriate response to the world that presses in on us.

As a kid, I didn’t get much sympathy if I wanted to wallow in the depths of my misery.  Mom just refused to put up with it.  She knew that there was a necessity for grief and anger, but she also knew that it needed to be set aside at some point.  If distractions (work, reading, getting out of the house) didn’t work, her next step was a rather stern discussion (she yelled at me).   Some days I wish she were still here to force me out of my malaise – it’s difficult to do it all by myself.

David was having a chat with his soul.  It just didn’t make sense to him to be in misery when God was there.  It doesn’t make sense for us to lose sight of the God who is our creator, sustainer and savior.  God will always be there.  We can put our hope in Him.