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‘No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.’ 1 Corinthians 1 0:24 NIV

Self-pity can be deadly. It tells the wife and mother who works hard, ‘You’re not appreciated.’ It says to the office worker, ‘Look how valuable you are, yet you’re never recognised or rewarded.’ It says to the unemployed, ‘No chance!’ To the divorced, ‘No place!’ To the bereaved, ‘No hope!’ And to the struggling, ‘No way!’ Look at the prophet Elijah. 24 hours after his greatest victory, he is deeply depressed and wallowing in self-pity. ‘I have had enough…Take my life…I have zealously served…But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed…your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too’ (1 Kings 19:4, 10 NLT).

There it is – self-pity in the raw! Generally speaking, there are two reasons behind self-pity. The first is emotional manipulation. We use self-pity as a weapon to guilt-trip others and get our own way. That’s immaturity and you have to deal with it, whether it’s in yourself or somebody else. On the other hand, self-pity can also stem from sheer exhaustion. Recorded in the Old Testament, God showed Elijah four things that were necessary to get himself back on track:

1) He needed more rest.

2) He hadn’t been eating properly.

3) He had taken his eyes off God and was trying to do everything in his own strength.

4) He was isolated and needed a friend. So, God gave him Elisha. That did the job, and the next time we see Elijah, he is back on top.

Take a moment today and think about how these four truths apply to your life.

SoulFood: Acts 14-15, Mark 4:21-29, Ps 16, Pro 11:1-2

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2024

‘Jacob set up a memorial stone in the place where He had spoken with him,’ Genesis 3 5:14 NASB

There are events in all our lives that, looking back, had to be the hand of God at work. Maybe you bumped into somebody who introduced you to your spouse, or a co-worker resigned and suddenly you were promoted, or a stranger said something that spoke to your heart. These are all signs of God’s favour, and when you’re tempted to get down, you need to remember how God opened the door for you, how he made a way, or spared your life, or healed your child. There is no such thing as coincidence. When something good happens, recognise that it’s God, and recall it often.

In the Old Testament, ‘Jacob set up a memorial stone in the place where He had spoken with him.’ Have you established any memorial stones lately? A sure way to build your faith is to remember all the times God made a way when every door was locked and barred against you. Days when you were lonely and God brought the right person into your life. Nights when you felt so bad you didn’t think you would make it until the next morning. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, God turned things around and gave you the oil of joy for mourning, lifted you out of the pit, gave you a new beginning and today, you’re happy, healthy, and whole.

And best of all: if He did it before, He will do it again! He is the same today as He was yesterday, and when you take time to remember His goodness and faithfulness, it strengthens you to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

SoulFood: Acts 12-13, Mark 4:10-20, Ps 103:13-22, Pro 10:30-32

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2024

‘He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces.’ Psalm 10 7:14 NKJV

When the Israelites cried to the Lord, he saved them. He brought them out of darkness and broke their chains. (see Psalm 107:13-14). And He can set you free from whatever is holding you captive today. And not just temporary freedom, but long-term freedom: ‘”So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’ (John 8:36 CSB). Here are two steps you can take towards freedom:

1) Cry out to the Lord. God said, ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Away with dignity and decorum – desperate situations call for desperate measures! Stop trying to handle it alone. If you could save yourself, you wouldn’t need a Saviour. Give it to God, ‘casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV).

2) Feed your soul spiritually. Freedom is a two-part process. The first is communion with Jesus. The Israelites fed on the Passover lamb in preparation for leaving slavery. And Jesus, the Lamb of God, declares, ‘“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.“’ (John 6:51 NIV). Sharing your feelings and needs with Him will lighten your burden, relieve your loneliness, and nourish your soul. Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners to set the oppressed free. (see Luke 4:18). The second part is meditating on Scripture. Rejecting God’s Word caused the Israelites to become slaves: ‘Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High…they fell down, and there was none to help’ (Psalm 107:11-12 NKJV).

To be set free and stay free, feed every day on God’s life-giving Word.

SoulFood: Acts 10-11, Mark 4:1-9, Ps 103:1-12, Pro 10:27-29

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2024

‘I have heard them crying out…and I am concerned about their suffering.’ Exodus  3:7 NIV

For 400 years, Israel was enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters who oppressed them. You can understand their feelings of helplessness when you consider the areas in your life where you struggle for freedom from old habits. Whether it’s anger, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, or abusive relationships, we experience a sense of powerlessness in our struggle. And repeated attempts at freedom can produce increased feelings of hopelessness that lead us to give up trying altogether.

The Israelites cried out to God, and He responded: ‘The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.’ (Exodus 3:7 NIV) God sees you, hears you, and is concerned about you.

He said, ‘So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey’ (Exodus 3:8 NIV). How did He do it? Their deliverance called for the death of the spotless Passover lamb. After applying its sacrificial blood to their doorposts, they cooked and ate the lamb while dressed in their travelling clothes, staff in hand, ready to leave captivity behind. Today, God wants you to prayerfully prepare for your journey to freedom; not by your own futile human efforts, but by faith in the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. ‘Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.’ (1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV).

Aren’t you glad?

SoulFood: Gal 5:22, 2 Pet 3:3-15, Matt 5:39, 1 Sam 25:1-42

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2024

‘Even the youths shall faint and be weary,’ Isaiah 4 0:30 NKJV

Dr Richard Swenson says, ‘You can go into the woods, select a 3m sapling [young tree], bend it over, and when you release it, it will return to its normal height. But if you keep bending it further and further, it will stay down. With stress, first, you bend, and then you recover. With burnout, first, you bend, and then you break, and you stay broken. Burnout is not a figment of your imagination or a sensationalised diagnosis by psychologists.

Exhaustion is real; it’s common, and it’s dangerous. It leads to irritability, anger, paranoia, headaches, ulcers, depression, and suicide. Burnout causes something inside you to break; you don’t care who sees or hears; you just want out. The good news is you can recover your passion, enthusiasm, productivity, and excellence, but it takes time, and the healing is mostly by scar formation. Burnout is common among the spiritually minded who are sensitive. They see pain and internalise it. They want to help the wounded. They don’t realise they were never designed to carry the world on their backs.’ So what’s the remedy? Lean on God (see Psalm 91:1). But to receive Psalm 91’s benefits, you need to meet its conditions by making God your dwelling place, abiding in Him, and submitting to His authority. ‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress…in him will I trust’ (Psalm 91:2 KJV).

Note the word ‘say’. What you say can mean life or death (see Proverbs 18:21). It can put you over the top or put you under. So today, read God’s Word, internalise and personalise and verbalise it, and your life will take an upward swing.

SoulFood: Acts 8-9, Mark 3:28-35, Ps 130, Pro 10:24-26

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright © 2024