At the beginning of Job’s time of suffering, he rested in God’s faithfulness and good character. However, as Job experienced more bad days, and his three “comforting friends” only generated more upset and discomfort,Job fell into the abyss of self-pity. The dictionary defines self-pity as the “self-indulgent belief that one’s life is harder and sadder than everyone else’s.” Pitying ourselves is counterproductive to moving forward spiritually and emotionally. When we get stuck here, we tell ourselves that life isn’t fair, that we’ve got it harder than most others, and that bad things always happen to us, and so on. This attitude shuts out the truth that God loves us and longs to bring good out of our hard times. Often, self-pity is a covering for our anger, which will trap us from facing, working on, and letting go of our inner infuriation. Holding on to angry emotions will propel us into hopelessness and depression. As Job moved forward, expressing and releasing his anger to God, he was able to hear God’s voice, come out of self-pity, and recognize the truth of God’s goodness. When self-pity comes knocking at our heart’s door, we must acknowledge that self-pity is a spiritual and emotional enemy, slam the door on it, and run to our loving, good, God for help!

“So am I allotted months of futile [suffering], and [long] nights of misery are appointed to me” (Job 7:3).