We all have times when we wake up in the morning and feel the blahs and blues; we don’t feel very excited. But just because we feel those emotions doesn’t mean we have to stay there and give in to them; we can shake it off and move forward in faith relying on God’s strength.
A great example of someone in the Bible who had a lot of experience in shaking off negative emotions is David. He had to fight being moody, and he was the King of Israel. He had all kinds of opportunity, power and position. He was wealthy, and yet, he still struggled with being depressed and discouraged. That tells me that having to choose to rule over negative feelings is something every person has to deal with. Don’t think you’re alone if you feel this way. Turn to God and His hope. Don’t think, “If I just had more money, if I had a better job, if I had a different spouse, then I’d be in a good mood, Joel. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with these feelings.” No, you may think that, but every person has to fight the temptation to just give in and live by how we feel.
I love what David did; he talked to himself. He said,“Why are you cast down, oh, my soul? Hope in the Lord.”
That’s Psalm 42. He was saying in everyday language, “David, what are you doing in a bad mood? Stop looking at your problems and start looking at your God.” That tells me that true joy is found only in God, when you take your eyes off of how you feel and your circumstances and place them on God and His Word.
Sometimes the best thing we can do is talk to ourselves and speak scripture over our lives. When you’re tempted to be in a bad mood, go look in the mirror and say, “Listen here, self. You need to cheer up. Get your joy back, get your peace back. I’m not going to live this day defeated.” You have to stay on the offensive. Don’t wait until you’ve been down for three days before you decide to do something about it. The moment you feel that discouragement trying to come on you, rise up and say, “No, I’m not going there.” You wake up in the morning and feel the blahs, you say, “Nope, that’s not for me. This is going to be a good day. It’s the day the Lord has made.”
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