When You Begin to Feel Sorry for Yourself

Do not grow weary in doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 Here are people who are doing what is right. They are on the right track. The problem is that they are getting tired. There are circumstances that can cause us to grow weary in doing good. When doing good brings trouble. You reach out to someone and they cause you trouble in It feels like a slap in the face. You know how discouraging this can be. When doing good brings little thanks. You extend yourself for your children, your company, or your church, and nobody seems to notice. It drains your energy. When doing good brings slow progress. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes about the battle against weariness in his excellent book Spiritual Depression, “The most difficult period of all in life is the middle period. There are compensations in youth and there are compensations in old age which seem to be entirely lacking in the middle period.” Incentives that motivated us in work and family life can be conspicuously absent in the middle years. The great danger is that we begin to feel sorry for ourselves. When your burden feels heavy, it is helpful to look at the burdens others are carrying: “Resist [Satan], firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Pet. 5:9). The suffering of other Christians can help you resist Satan. Knowing the burden others carry will help you carry your own. A wise pastor once said, “Irrigate your soul in the joys and sorrows of others.” Do you feel yourself growing weary in doing good? What can you do about it? Written by Colin Smith Read by Sue McLeish www.openthebible.org.uk