No room for pity parties

(Here is the full version, minus the errors :). Sorry for the confusion! )

1 Chronicles 4: 9-10

And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.


This might sound crazy, but I view pity the same way I view debt: it's easy to get into, but the toughest to climb out of.

Just think about it. When you're sliding that credit card, you're not thinking of the long-term debt that continues to add up until you get the bill. Then once you get it and realize you don't have the cash to pay it, you send a little here and a little there. Eventually what you have is a black hole that sucks your wallet right up. (I bet you're glad you started reading this post! Ha)

Pity parties can be something of a black hole, too. I would know, considering I've been partying like a rock star for the last few days.

But on the flip side of things, feeling sorry for yourself only makes you feel worse. You can spend hours and hours moaning and complaining about current situations and circumstances. And when someone shows the slightest bit of sympathy, the comfort only lasts for a short moment before you realize that the time you spent complaining could have been spent working on, or praying for guidance about, a solution.

The reason for my recent revelation came when I was informed that my job would soon no longer exist. That was a month ago. But, the weight of it all - looking for a new job in a market where many people are losing their jobs, moving and finding a way to continue to pay bills - didn't sink in until three days ago.

You see, for the entire month that I worked, knowing that my job was going to end soon, I kept telling myself, "This is all part of God's plan. This is my time for change." I also had work to occupy my time ... and thoughts.

I worked almost non stop, and even after my last day of working, Christmas was the very next week. Time with family kept my spirits high and my mind off the inevitable. However, once I returned to my apartment - just me, no noise - all I had was time to think about how much I needed to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

It's been three days now. It's time to shut this pity party down!

Last night I came across the prayer printed above and realized that God is bigger than any job (or anything else, for that matter)! And it's possible for God to enable me to gain much more than what was lost. The difficult part is waiting, but I wonder how long Jabez waited to hear from God.

Regardless of how long he might have waited, the end of that scripture verse says that God granted Jabez' request.

I'm going to hold out just the same!