Bad Mood

I was in a bad mood yesterday, for pretty much the whole day. Once I get into a bad mood, I spiral down, and stubbornly refuse to get my self out of it. There were various contributing factors, including the fact that I had barely slept the night before, but for the most part the factors are irrelevant.

They are just an excuse for me to sit around sulking in my dirty nappy all day. What got me out of it was reading a devotion last night that I had skipped reading in the morning. Maybe things would have been different had I not skipped it. This is the bit that got to me--

God is not concerned about our plans; He does not say- 'Do you want to go through this bereavement; this upset?' He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women; or they are making us more captious and fault-finding, more insistent upon our own way. The things that happen either make us fiends, or they make us saints; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God. --(Oswald Chambers)

What this made me see is that it is not the circumstances of my life that put me in a bad mood, or frustrate me, make me anxious, or leave me angry and flailing. It is not the circumstances of my life that will make me happy, give me peace and set me in a good mood for the day. It ALL stems from where I am standing with God, how much I have put my trust in Him.

If I submit to follow Him, the road is not necessarily easy, but He still will give me peace, security and joy on that road, even though the going may be hard. Whereas if I let my mood be determined by circumstances, than I am going to go up and down like a yo-yo, and any peace or happiness that comes to me will be shallow and fleeting.

The only consistent happiness I can find is by letting go of the steering wheel, and saying YOUR will be done.