How do we deal with bad moods? Or self-indulgent moods? Or pity-party moods? Or just plain old weariness moods?
I guess another way to ask this would be how do we make ourselves act and respond in ways we know we should rather than simply give in to those ways we feel? When we're disappointed...or angry...or frustrated...or worried...or simply hungry or tired, we (or at least your truly) can so easily fall victim to our vacillating and unreliable feelings rather than living out what the truths of our faith. Was it Churchill who said that exhaustion can make cowards of us all? Well, if we're cowards, we'll never exhibit the strength and courage it takes to do what's right despite our emotions.
Not that I've ever done that. Yeah, right.
But you know, that's simply no way to live. Living based on feelings rather than faith leads to see-sawing...crazy highs and lows...unreliability...discouragement...frustration...and ultimately to a life that fails to glorify God.
But there's Someone who always responded based upon His faith rather than His feelings and acted out of truth rather than misleading emotions--the Lord Jesus. "When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem." (Lk9:51) I love that phrase--"set His face." What a picture of resolute strength and dogged determination.
Isaiah50:7 put it this way: "But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." Flint is defined as "anything extremely hard, unimpressible, and unyielding." We're talking remarkable strength here.
You know, some days we (translate--me, myself, and I) don't feel like trusting...or obeying...or loving...or forgiving...or doing whatever it is God has called us to do. On those days, we have the choice. We can "go with the flow"--which means giving in to our feelings...and that inevitably leads us nowhere we want to go. Or we choose--no matter how we feel--to "set our face like a flint" towards obedience and the rock-solid truth of God's Word...which inevitably leads to renewed strength, joy, hope, and peace.
And here's how and why we can do this: if Christ is our Savior, then we have the Spirit of Almighty God dwelling within us. Sure, I have the strength and self-discipline of a housefly. Maybe a gnat. Or worse. When I'm hungry...or tired...or fearful...or frustrated, well, let's just say I've got nothing, nada, zip when it comes to the resources to deal with my bankrupt emotions.
But praise God, it's not me confronting those feelings! It's not me trying to figure out how to respond to that stress or disappointment. NO--it's the Holy Spirit living within me who'll enable me to love or forgive or encourage or trust or obey.
As Elizabeth Elliott once said, "The secret is Christ in me...not me in a different set of circumstances." Yes--it's not me, but Him! "Christ in me, the hope of glory." (Col.1:27)
But we still have to choose to set our faces like flint even as we moment-by-moment seek the enabling power of the One who indwells us.
I love how Henri Nouwen put it: "Our emotional lives move up and down constantly. Sometimes we experience great mood swings [you think?!]: from excitement to depression, from joy to sorrow, from inner harmony to inner chaos. A little event, a word from someone, a disappointment in work, many things [like teenagers] can trigger mood swings. Mostly we have little control over these changes. It seems that they happen to us rather than being created by us. Thus it is important to know that our emotional life is not the same as our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is the life of the Spirit of God within us. As we feel our emotions shift, we must connect our spirits with the Spirit of God and remind ourselves that what we feel is not who we are. We are and remain, whatever our moods, God's beloved children."
I guess the bottom line for me? It's high time we stop falling victim to our moods and instead follow the example of our Messiah. And that means setting our faces like flint and acting based upon our faith in God's Word, not our feelings of the moment. But--and this is the key--we trust and know that it's the Holy Spirit that enables and empowers us to do what we can't.
Time to stop talking...or waiting for the right feelings. No, it's time to do some face-setting and some Jesus-trusting, don't you think? Time to live out the truth of what we believe...and experience the joy of Christ living it out through us.
As the Nike ad says--Just do it!
To God be the glory.
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