Day 21: Expectations Gone and Self Pity Remains!
Never Give in to Self-Pity!

The opposite of confidence and worth is self-pity. Self-pity occurs when we feel we are warranted to receive but get passed by. This can occur in our natural or spiritual life. Self-pity helps define our moment or, may I say, cause us to miss our moment. We feel we are deserving or entitled to a blessing, and we lose faith when we see a blessing slip past our life.

One of the best examples of self-pity is the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda (see John 5). Jesus knew his full condition and then asked the man if he wished to be healed. The man began to explain why he had not and could not be healed. Jesus seemed to quit listening to his self-pity and healed him anyway.

We can easily lose sight of God’s promises when we are in difficult situations. This is often how we get off target in seeing God fulfill our prophetic destiny. Even though the Body of Christ goes through great times of testing, we are not to grow fearful and be discouraged. The enemy takes advantage during our testing periods by using a strategy to discourage us. Discouragement breeds hope deferred, which makes the heart sick. When we have a measure of hopelessness within us, we lose our expectation of God.

“Future” and “expectation” are synonymous. Our future is linked with an expectation of God moving. This is a time for the Church to have its expectation level renewed and raised to another level. Isaiah 59 and 60 are wonderful prayer guides for us to follow to see this happen in our lives. Hope must transcend and move into faith. Faith produces overcoming. Overcoming leads to a demonstration of God’s power and a manifestation of His promises.

The Cycle of Self Pity…
Prophecy unlocks our future. But once we get wounded or experience loss, we can lose sight of our future. The biggest demonic force that we have to contend with is self-pity. Self-pity draws attention to our loss and keeps us from seeing God’s glory manifested in our life. Instead of our loss directing us to God’s continued perfect plan for our life, our self rises up and causes us to say, “Pity me for what I have lost.” Any time we experience loss, trauma, wounding or injustice, we can either choose to live with a belief system that God can heal and forgive or we can allow our mind-set to form rejection, self-defense and self-pity.

During times of loss and wounding, we have a tendency to accuse God for the trauma that we are experiencing. The power of this accusation leads to a type of fatherlessness. Instead of experiencing the spirit of adoption, we feel abandoned and lost. From our self-defense, we actually form a rebellion to authority. We also become unteachable. We have a mind-set that says, “No one understands me or what I am going through.”

We also begin to think that there is no solution to our problem. We wake up thinking, “There is no way out.” We fall into apathy because we have no hope of healing or restoration. Since we know that we should be living a godly life, religious mechanisms become a solace to us. We may even gain a martyr complex and say, “O woe is me. This is my cross to bear. Look how heavy is my cross.” This type of thinking causes us to not fight when we need to fight. Instead of fighting and advancing, we become a slave to comfort and the status quo. We forget that we are called to fellowship with Christ’s sufferings—a type of fellowship that leads to His resurrection power manifesting in us.

Losing sight of the love of God causes us to turn to self. God’s love forces us to deal with these thoughts born of our self-pity. I have experienced enough freedom in my own life to know when I am not free. Faith works by love. Once we experience God’s liberty and love, we will be able to resist that call from self to be pitied and be able to overthrow hope deferred.

Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce

When God Speaks by Chuck D. Pierce and Rebecca Wagner Sytsema
Also available in Spanish ($11) and Portuguese ($10)

A revelation handbook for your Bible! This is a great book which condenses much of the teaching in larger books. Learn how the Lord continues to speak to us today, and how we can receive the revelation He is desiring to release to us. The appendix on dreams and symbols is so helpful. This book includes chapters on:
How to receive, test and respond to your prophetic word,
How to walk in revelation, and
How to hear and interpret dreams and visions.

($10)

God’s Now Time for your Life by Chuck D. Pierce and Rebecca Wagner Sytsema
Also available in Spanish ($11) and French ($10)

This book is full of rich, fresh insight for finding God's direction for your life, your family and your territory. Find out how to break out of desolation, how to deal with hope deferred, how to understand and act on personal prophecy and how to move in God's "now" timing. As you read, you will understand how to press toward your fulfillment and purpose, and gain new hope that the best is yet ahead!

($10)

Becoming Whole in Body, Soul, and Spirit by Chuck D. Pierce and Robert Heidler

As we move forward into a new season, it is time for us to release the past, be healed and restored so we can move into our new season whole in Body, Soul, and Spirit. This course offers various topics, including the cornerstone teaching by Chuck Pierce on The Issachar Anointing. Other topics in Part 1 include:

Blessings and Curses
Body, Soul, and Spirit
Breaking Vexation from Your Spirit
Our Sons and Daughters Will Prophesy

($99 for CD or DVD set)