Copyright 2014 Theresa Harvard Johnson
Sometimes, it’s not always easy to identify when we are in a pit — a deep, dark hole that is obstructing our perspective due to an unnamed, unconfronted or unidentified stronghold in our lives. But I tell you, a clear sign of being in a pit is living in self-denial – unable to see one’s own condition, and spending an enormous amount of time living in the valleys of heaviness instead of PRACTICING self-motivation and self-propulsion in the Spirit. Daily we must remind ourselves that we are MORE SPIRIT than natural. We are created in the very image of God and therefore, we have the power to press upward and out of those dark places with the strength God provides.
People of God, either we believe he is an all powerful God or we believe that He isn’t. This is the question that I place before you today as we identify “the victim mentality” that has taken hold of the hearts of God’s people and “SHUT THIS STRONGHOLD DOWN.” It is EVICTION TIME! YES. It can be shut down. David gave us a valuable example how it can be done.
1 Samuel 30:6 CJB says, “David was in serious trouble: the people were talking about stoning him to death, because all the people were in such deep grief, each man over his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in Adonai his God.”
There was a time when I had to face a very real truth: I was living my life with a victim mentaility somewhere between pause, stop and slow, and my life couldn’t even begin to compare with the death threats David was facing in this situation or even the circumstance he was facing. Even now, many who are reading this message can’t comprehend the depth of despair this man of God was facing. When this passage is read in full context, the magnitude of it is powerful. So please, go back and read this testimony from David’s life. Look at the insurmountable odds against him. You will probably stand there saying to yourself: “How did he pull himself up from this?”
Yet, he did.
When we are in a pit – a place of stagnation, pain and inward torment, it is sometimes easier to wallow there with a tiny violin and a bucket for catching tears. (Can you picture this?) Yes, you may have experienced a legitimate wounding. Yes, you may have suffered an unimaginable breaking of your spirit. But guess what, God did not call you to die there! He didn’t call you to tuck your tail and walk out your life with unfulfilled callings and dreams! There are too many callings and giftings in the grave because people chose victimization over victory! This post isn’t about beating anyone up. Rather, it is about being CALLED TO LIFE! It is about declaring continuously that YOU SHALL LIVE AND NOT DIE!
Self-pity and the victim mindset has so entrenched itself in the hearts of some people that they lean more to “viewing themselves” as being misunderstood casualties of war MORE SO than an overcomer. There comes a time when we must ASK GOD for a spiritual enema (deliverance and healing) followed by a swift kick out of the nest. God’s chastisement is GOOD! It is LOVING! It challenges us to do and be the best that He created!
The purpose of this blog is not to condemn, but to bring strong conviction and cause a turning in your hearts. Its purpose is to cause the enemy of your soul to flee from you as the joy of the Lord arises and remains in your heart.
When a person is in the victim-pit, they ride a rollercoaster of HIGH spiritual-highs and LOW spiritual lows. They are pre-occupied with what others think, and spend very little time on moving or activating what God has already placed inside them. They literally live their lives looking into the face of others “singularly centered on what others think, say or have done to them.”
This pit is designed by hell itself to sabotage one’s destiny. It is a pit in which a person has begun to “worship their own victimization.”
What is a victim?
According to Dictionary.com, a victim is a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency; a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency.
What is the victim mentality?
When you are a victim, it indicates that something happened to you that took your power away leaving you powerless in one or more areas. People who suffer from a victim mentality have adopted a powerless or defeated thought process and belief system. They see themselves as literal pawns in the game of life in which they have no control over what happens to them and they lack the motivation and strength to pull themselves out of the pit. They have bowed their heads to defeat. Listen, when a person is operating out of this mindset everything that happens to them is internalized as from the perspective of a VICTIM.
Their suffering becomes a BADGE that is constantly before them! What’s even worse is that in some situations THEY REFUSE to accept the role they may have played in the situation and CONSTANTLY blame others for the situations they face. Their brokenness is always someone elses fault!
You see, David could have let “the people” stone Him! He could have died right there that day and given up his destiny! He could have thrown the towel in and shut down the race! After all, the people wanted him dead anyway in that situation! Listen, if David had given up right there on the spot – and took on the VICTIM MENTALITY – there is no doubt those people would have killed him.
You see, David was put in the position of a VICTIM, but he didn’t BECOME one. He didn’t assimilate to being a casualty. David was TRULY in a PIT caught between the ENEMY and the ANGRY people of God but HE ROSE ABOVE IT. He was truly CAUGHT in a precarious situation but he made the DECISION not to remain THERE! He literally shouted from the roof tops: “I am not a victim!”
David pulled on the prophecies and promises of God. He realized that there was NO WAY this could be the end of His life. Did not God declare his promises concerning him? Either David was going to contend for his life in God or he was going to die right there between his enemy and God’s angry, hurting people. David understood that conquerors go down under the power of God, not the power of men.
1 Samuel 30:7-9 CJB says this, “David said to Avyatar the cohen, the son of Achimelekh, Please bring the ritual vest here to me. Avyatar brought the vest to David. Then David consulted Adonai. He asked, “Should I go in pursuit of these raiders? Will I catch up with them?” And [Adonai] answered him, “Go in pursuit, because you will overtake them and recover everyone and everything.” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They came to Vadi B’sor, where those who were to stay behind waited. 10 Then David continued in pursuit with four hundred men, while two hundred too exhausted to cross Vadi B’sor stayed behind.”
This hurting, broken man of God rose up in power, and:
- Postured himself for prayer with an anointed garment, an ephod.
- Counseled with God in prayer, asking a direct and specific question.
- Tarried with God until he received answers that were as specific and detailed as his.
- Trusted what God said even in his weakened state; and
- Pursued his enemy even as his army fell apart due to exhaustion right before his eyes.
You see, a conqueror keeps going even when they physically have nothing left but determines in their heart they will BELIEVE GOD! Never once did David tell God about the obstacles before him. Rather, he KEPT GOING in the midst of those obstacles because of God’s declaration that he would be victorious.
David refused to stay in the pit! DAVID SHUT DOWN ATHE VICTIM MENTALITY! He refused to be a VICTIM and let that mindset destroy him. At the end of this horrible trial, David was victorious and WEALTHY! The people had way more than what they started out with SPIRITUALLY AND NATURALLY!
David went as far as to send a note to his family and friends in 1 Samuel 30:26 that said: “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of Adonai.”
Come on now people of God! Let’s face a powerful truth here: “Conquerors to do not cling to the pit. They do not hold on to their pain. Rather, they let the pain run its course like the spiritual virus it can be until only rest in Christ remains.” It might take time and time and time and time but God does answer.
The victim mentality completely distracts the believer from advancing upon the SPOILS of Adonai’s wars. I used to be a master at pity parties! I could cling to a pit like NO OTHER! But when I learned how to war, the pit – though I fell in – could no longer hold me. The pit falsely comforts people in their self-pity often bandaging hidden roots of unforgiveness and bitterness.
One of the best messages in this testimony of David is this: “You better move the minute you tap into the strength in you THAT GOD PROVIDES!”
The victim mentality says:
- I’ve tried to get past this but I can’t. God is saying, “Obviously you haven’t tried hard enough. Have you heard about my sons Gideon, David, Job and Christ?”
- I need someone to help me get through this. God is saying, “You have everything you need inside you?”
- I want to cry and die! God is saying, “Go ahead and cry and then get up and die to your flesh!”
- My pain has become a badge of honor to me and I don’t want to give up my right to hurt. God is saying, “Give me your pain and let me give you my joy?”
- Everybody around me hates me! God is saying, “Who cares about what everyone else thinks, what am I saying?”
- This is way too hard for me and I can’t let it go. God is saying, “If you hold on to it, you’re taking what I gave my son to bear and putting it right back on yourself. You are incapable of carrying HIS weight.”
When dealing with people in the pit who have taken on the “victim mindset” you must constantly SHUT DOWN their pity parties. You CANNOT entertain those complaints, luring conversations, sighs and gestures or any of those “needy behaviors” that, quite frankly will grow to irritate you.
I want to also encourage you too:
- Practice bold honesty around them. (Proverbs 12:22, 2 Corinthians 8:21)
- In truth, believers don’t speak the truth in love often enough. It is okay to say, “Listen Jane Doe, I know you want to talk about this but I don’t have any more to offer you concerning this situation. Let’s talk about something else.”
- Prepare yourself for the “guilt trip” – especially if the person in the pit is a family member or close friend. Hold your position firmly. Redirect the conversation. Avoid unnecessary interactions if necessary that would open the door to wrong thinking. Titus 2:7 talks about setting a good example, this is what you want to do.
- Speak life declaratively! For every negative, manipulative situation that presents itself redirect it with God’s truth. For a long time I simply kept telling a person in my life this every time they entered victim mode, “I am so glad you are a conqueror through Jesus Christ! Let’s celebrate!” This made them very angry, but I kept doing it and eventually that behavior stopped around me. Break out in a dance if you have to, and literally move into a conversation about gratefulness and thanksgiving. Any scripture reference on speaking life can be studied here.
I declare that you will, “Come out of the pit! That you will not remain entrapped by lower-level warfare – the flies and gnats of the flesh.”
The bottom line is this: Every man must choose the pit or his presence? We will either believe God or believe the lies we tell ourselves. We can be our greatest enemy – doing the adversary’s job for him.
