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WEEK 12 BREAKOUT: Throwing a Pity Party
- Bryce Johnson
- Nov 18, 2025
- 6 min read
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"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." ― Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
Throwing a Pity Party
As we play Fantasy Football, we wish that we could win every week and win the championship every year. We want every tight matchup to go our way and every player on our team to be the one who puts up huge points.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it goes in Fantasy Football. Even the best teams deal with injuries, bad breaks, and disappointing performances from their players. All of us can relate to the challenges and frustrations that come with the Fantasy season.
As we know, though, there are some seasons and some weeks where it seems like everything that could go wrong goes wrong. We can’t seem to catch a break. We experience huge scoring performances from players we left on our bench, while the players we start underperform.
We also make trades that backfire immediately. As soon as we drop a player, he scores a ton of points for another team in our league that picked him up. Even when we snag the hot waiver wire pickup of the week after his monster game, as soon as we start him, he does nothing!
Throw in the fact that every week, another player on our roster is getting injured, and the hits keep coming. It's especially the worst when multiple players actually get injured early in the first half of games, giving us minimal Fantasy production when they are in our starting lineup.
When this is how our season goes, it’s an absolute nightmare, and it takes the fun out of playing Fantasy Football. As a result, we throw ourselves a pity party, whining, complaining, and feeling sorry for ourselves. When we talk to our league, here are the things we say or post in the group chat.
“Here we go again, another injured player.”
“Of course he’s having a huge day…on my bench.”
“I’m the worst at Fantasy Football.”
"Why is this happening to me?"
“No matter what I do, nothing goes my way.”
“Every time I start him, he does nothing, and every time I bench him, he does well.”
“Poor me, my Fantasy team is terrible, I can’t catch a break.”
“I know I’ll lose this week, I wonder who will get injured next?!”
These comments cause the rest of the league to pile on and laugh at us, and then more self-pity takes over. We can’t believe how bad our season is and how everything is going the opposite way of what we hoped. Every time we look at our Fantasy team or talk about it, we wallow in our misery, anguish, and despair.
Of course, it’s just Fantasy Football and we’ll get over it, but some seasons stir up so much self-pity while there is nothing we can do to turn our team around. But the thing is, we shouldn’t be surprised when this happens, because that’s how Fantasy Football goes sometimes. There's always next year!
The truth is, in a much more serious sense, life can be tough when things don’t go our way and challenges really pile up. We can find ourselves in seasons when everything seems to be going wrong: we can’t catch a break, no matter what we do it doesn’t seem to help, the hits keep coming, and life is going the opposite of what we hoped.
When life is like this, it can be an absolute nightmare, threatening to rob us of our joy and peace. If we aren’t careful, we throw a pity party and start whining, complaining, and feeling sorry for ourselves. When we talk to our friends, here are the things we say or post in the group chat:
“Poor me, my life is terrible, I can’t catch a break.”
"Why is this happening to me?"
“Here we go again, another sickness.”
“Of course, that would happen to me.”
“I’m the worst spouse or parent.”
“No matter what I do, nothing goes my way.”
“Every time I start to change, I blow it again.”
These types of thoughts and perspectives leave us wallowing in self-pity, misery, anguish, and despair. We buy the lie that we deserve a pity party, and somehow this makes us feel better. We convince ourselves that we should be woe-is-me because of how bad things are.
As followers of Jesus, thankfully, we don’t have to live defeated or hopeless, and as we turn to Him, He will help pull us out of those negative thoughts and feelings that are making things even worse.
Yes, our circumstances might be brutal, and we’ll be tempted to wallow when we’re in a season where nothing appears to be going right. Thankfully, Jesus has compassion for us, meets us in our despair, and is understanding and caring. With His help, we can maintain the proper perspective and keep our joy and peace rather than choosing self-pity and remaining in our despair.
We can declare Psalm 28:7 (NLT): “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”
We can be encouraged by what it says in James 1:2-4 (AMP): “Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.”
When we start to think about throwing that pity party that focuses on ourselves, we can instead choose to lift our eyes to the Lord and remember His goodness and faithfulness and "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18; ESV).
We can also be encouraged by Psalm 43:5 (ESV): "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God."
Sure, trials and seasons of suffering can surprise us, but we shouldn’t be surprised that life is hard, because challenges and tribulations are part of the journey. Even when nothing appears to be going our way, thankfully, as followers of Jesus, we aren’t hopeless, and we know that in the end, we win. We live in victory because of Christ, and we don’t remain in despair but rather have confident peace in the midst of tough seasons.
Jesus says in John 16:33 (AMP), “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]”
Now that’s a much better reason to throw a party…not a pity party!
Heavenly Father, forgive me for dwelling on my circumstances and allowing difficult seasons to cause me to whine, complain, and wallow in self-pity. Please help me continue to keep my eyes on Jesus, filled with joy and peace, because my victory is found in Him. Help me endure the trials of life with hope. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Who in your league has had everything that could go wrong go wrong this season?
What injuries to your players have made you feel sorry for yourself?
What unfortunate lineup decisions led to you having self-pity about the player going off with a massive performance on your bench?
What waiver wire situations have led to you saying, "I can't catch a break."
What else has this Fantasy season caused you to wallow in despair?
In what tough seasons throughout your life have you battled self-pity?
How do you relate to experiencing multiple things going wrong at once, and nothing appears to be going right?
How have you learned to combat self-pity, and in what ways did this week's breakout encourage you?
What roles does gratitude play in giving you the proper perspective during tough seasons of life?
Why is understanding your victory in Christ is crucial to battling self-pity when it feels like you're losing in life?
Based on current challenges, what does it look like to still have peace and joy in the midst of them?
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