The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. But the people used to strengthen us are never those who sympathize with us; in fact, we are hindered by those who give us their sympathy, because sympathy only serves to weaken us. No one better understands a saint than the saint who is as close and as intimate with Jesus as possible. If we accept the sympathy of another saint, our spontaneous feeling is, “God is dealing too harshly with me and making my life too difficult.” That is why Jesus said that self-pity was of the devil (see Matthew 16:21-23). We must be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy for us to tarnish God’s character because He never argues back; He never tries to defend or vindicate Himself. Beware of thinking that Jesus needed sympathy during His life on earth. He refused the sympathy of people because in His great wisdom He knew that no one on earth understood His purpose (see Matthew 16:23). He accepted only the sympathy of His Father and the angels (see Luke 15:10).
Look at God’s incredible waste of His saints, according to the world’s judgment. God seems to plant His saints in the most useless places. And then we say, “God intends for me to be here because I am so useful to Him.” Yet Jesus never measured His life by how or where He was of the greatest use. God places His saints where they will bring the most glory to Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be.

My Utmost For His Highest - Oswald Chambers

Sympathy :  feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune

wide gate ^

Empathy:  the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

narrow gate ^



 2 Timothy 4:3

When I am in dire straights...I tend to want sympathy.  Thank the Lord for His provision of a few people in my life who take it to the next level and offer empathy.  The ones who want to get down in the dirt with me.

Before I arrive at thankful though...I usually go through a pissed off season.  Mad at them and mad at Him.  Cuz I think I need SYMPATHY!!!!!!!