I'm a big fan of inspirational quotes. One of my favorite quotes comes from Joyce Meyer. She wrote in one of her books, "You can be pitiful or you can be powerful but you can't be both." I came across this quote during a time when I felt very pitiful. I had no idea how to transform my pity into power. I looked to the word of God and found wisdom to help me stay encouraged when the challenges in life seem overwhelming. I was able to discover for myself how to overcome feelings of depression, low self esteem, lack of confidence and self destruction. I pray these words help to uplift you and keep you aware that God is with you when you are high as well as when you are low...
One of my favorite biblical heroines is Hagar. Talk about pitiful! Hagar was a slave in a foreign land and treated like a piece of property. Hagar was forced to perform whatever services her master requested of her. This included performing sexual acts with Abram and being used to conceive a child on Sarai's behalf. Hagar's situation was unbearable for her and eventually she ran away.
Have you ever been faced with an extremely difficult situation and decided to run away from it? Hagar was a poor, unmarried, pregnant, servant girl. Back in the Old Testament days, I don't think any woman could find herself in a worse predicament. We all feel alone, unloved and desperate at times. The way Hagar's situation turns around helped give me hope and turn my pity into power.
So Hagar ran away but soon discovered she was not alone. An angel found Hagar and gave her wisdom on how to face her situation. After her encounter with the angel, Hagar felt empowered, hopeful and most of all, she felt loved. No longer was she just a piece of property. Hagar felt a sense of self worth due to the fact that God took note of her predicament and helped her fulfill her purpose. Surely Hagar must be very important regardless of her social class since God spoke to her and helped her through a tough time in her life. So Hagar turned around and went back to face her situation but she didn't go back empty handed. God blessed her with a baby boy who would someday be a father of an entire nation of descendants too numerous to count!
This story is such an inspiration to me. During times when I feel alone, worthless, pitiful, I can be renewed with feelings of love, joy and peace because God speaks directly to my spirit. God tells me I am His child. He tells me He loves me! He tells me He will always protect me! He tells me no matter how bad things get, I will always be important to Him! There is no human relationship that can compare to my relationship with God. Humans don't love unconditionally but God does. God sees each and every one of us. Open your eyes and see Him at work in your life!
