Many years ago, Ken and I read Oswald Chambers. We are now reading Charles Spurgeon because we enjoy his writings more because he understood our new lives in Christ clearer than Oswald did who is the type that focuses on us as “sinners” and Spurgeon on us as “saints” once we are His. One of my dad’s friends said that reading Oswald was like drinking castor oil! Something I did learn from Oswald’s writings, however, is the term, “self-pity is satanic.” Whenever I begin to feel sorry for myself in any way, inadequate, feeling left out, or mistreated, I remember this phrase. When my oldest daughter was going through one of the difficult teenage insecurity times, I shared this with her and it helped her get out of her self-pity trap immediately. Focusing on ourselves never produces anything good. Focus upon the Lord and all He has done for you instead. Be blessed by Oswald’s words.

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will disappear. Then He will be your all in all. Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue, because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is satanic. Don’t allow yourself to say, “Well, they have just misunderstood me, and this is something over which they should be apologizing to me; I’m sure I must have this cleared up with them already.” Learn to leave others alone regarding this. Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute. (This is a statement I disagree with him about. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” – Colossians 2:10. Now, believe you are complete in Him!)

If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me…and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself.

Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18