Those who are the happiest are not necessarily those for whom life has been easiest. Emotional stability is an attitude. It is refusing to yield to depression and fear, even when black clouds float overhead.
~ James C. Dobson (1936- )
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
he sets up salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
~ Isaiah 26:1-4
~ Isaiah 26:1-4
There is a moment of great healing in our lives. It comes when He teaches us that the foundation of our emotions is no longer connected to our circumstances.
Some of us have gotten to the end of some very hard, very weird days… Well, all of us have gotten to the end of some very hard, very weird days… Anyway. Some of us have gotten to the end of some very hard, very weird days and found out that they were, in fact, some of the best days of our life.
How does this happen?
We realize that our sense of well-being is no longer rooted in ourselves. Our sense of well-being becomes fully rooted in who we are in Christ (See: New Thing). And once this sense takes root, we begin to be unshakable.
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
~ Psalm 1
~ Psalm 1
Oh yeah, the leaves and twigs and branches and limbs and even trunks of a well-rooted tree may be blown around by the strong winds of existence. But a tree like this will stand in the worst of weather. Parts may even be stripped off. But the tree still stands.
This writer had one of those days today. The spectrum of good news, to bad news; the panorama of emotional and circumstantial inputs was a wildly broad affair. If my identity had been tied to my emotions today – i would have been severely shaken. The immense pains, interspersed with incredible highs and pleasures were incredible. And surely, i experienced all of the feelings… Actually, somehow, in Christ we feel everything more clearly and poignantly than before.
It is just that those feelings no longer have any control over how we respond in our inner man – or to the world around us. Instead, we have the opportunity to simply dwell in His Presence, standing firm on the foundation of His righteousness, and rooted fully in His Love. And this combination makes for VERY good days with Him.
Don’t bother much about your feelings.
When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them;
when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly,
ask to have them altered.
In neither case are they you,
but only a thing that happens to you.
What matters is your intentions and your behavior.
~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
