This afternoon I find myself in a very depressed mood. Don’t get me wrong — I am very thankful for my life. I have every reason to be happy. Thankfulness is essential if you’re ever going to take hold of rest and contentment. But thankfulness and contentment don’t always mean you’re happy.
We have this stupid belief in America that if we’re not happy, we must not be “doing it right.” Life, I mean. Sometimes we really aren’t doing it right, and we are never doing anything completely right. But happiness is not a consistent measure of this. Oftentimes we do very good things that make us sad, or do very wrong things that make us happy.
I think that, more often than not, our feelings are overrated. That is not to say that they are useless or bad. They are important. But what I am saying is that we give them too much credit to dictate our lives. When we’re happy, it’s harder to challenge ourselves to love God and serve others more. And when we’re sad, it’s easy to become a little vacuum to try to suck life from any old source we can find.
And more often than not, moods don’t direct us to satisfying things. They are more related to how much sleep we got last night, or how many vegetables we had, or our genetic composition, than whether we are making upright choices in life. Moods are self-preserving mechanisms that try to persuade us to meet our own needs. If we let emotions control us, it can be dangerous and unhelpful, not only for the people around us, but ourselves as well.
Emotions are confusing, but the Word of God is our lamp to navigate through our chaotic or dissatisfying lives.
I’m reminding myself today that I have everything I need already. In Christ, I am fully equipped to fight the good fight:
His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” ~1 Peter 2:3
When we’re unhappy, it’s easy to think, “Maybe I just need ____.” But when we run after anything in this world, it will always disappoint us:
When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.” ~Ecclesiastes 2:11
When I used to put puzzles together at my Grandpa’s house, I would get frustrated when pieces wouldn’t fit. To relieve my frustration, he would jokingly suggest, “Try using a hammer.” Although this would force the pieces into place, these pieces were not made for each other, and I would find at the end that the picture was neither beautiful nor satisfying. I knew I would have to submit to the reality of the puzzle instead of merely relieving my frustration.
In the same way, God is the only one who can satisfy our desires, since He designed us to be made complete only in Himself:
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” ~Psalm 145:16
Yet I still find myself wanting it both ways. I wantthe puzzle to be complete and I want it done now. I want Jesus to be the head of my life and I want to be in control and have everything go my way. And I want to be happy all the time. I want Jesus to get the glory He deserves, and I want to steal a little for myself.
But God will not tolerate this kind of unfaithfulness:
Samuel told them, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to the LORD, and worship only Him. Then He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” ~1 Samuel 7:3
It’s easy to think that more is better, but I can choose to be content with God and seek no further. Why should I reject perfection for something less than perfect? I am only cheating myself.
I am glad that the choices I make in my life are not the fatalistic result of my feelings at any given moment. I am free to make choices because of my consistent resolve to live to the purposes of my Savior.
Jesus, thank you for being the one and only source of life that will ever and always be enough for me, no matter what I’m feeling at the time.
