Do you ever have days when you feel down in the dumps? When you don’t feel like doing anything and you wonder if you have any purpose?
I’ve recently been feeling this way. I don’t think it’s the fall weather since I normally enjoy the fall season.
But I just couldn’t put my finger on why I was feeling sad and had no energy or motivation for anything.
Worse, I was thinking my inspiration had dried up and why was I writing anyway?
Was anybody reading it? Did anybody care?
Very selfish and self-serving, I know. And a little immature (ok, a whole lot immature!)
As I prayed this morning and read some devotionals, the scripture passages stuck out to me and helped lift my spirits.
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my saviour and my God.” Psalm 42:5 (NIV)
King David in the Old Testament felt so strongly about this he repeats it in verse 11 for emphasis!
Then I read Psalm 64:10 “The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory and offer praise!” (Amp)
When I least ‘feel’ like the Lord is with me is precisely when I need to rejoice and hope! I need to press into God when I don’t ‘feel’ like it. When I rejoice anyway, it takes the focus off of me and my circumstances and places my thoughts on God and his glory! My feelings then naturally follow where my thoughts go! I need to listen to the voice of God through the scriptures, not the rambling voices in my head!
The psalms are full of David crying out in despair and then praising God in joy. We as humans are so fickle and we can’t rely on our emotions and feelings but need to focus on facts. Our feelings follow our thoughts.
Fact: God is still present, even when we don’t ‘feel’ his presence.
Fact: We can hope in God and trust him to connect with us, but we have to reach out and be willing to seek his presence.
Fact: Our human feelings are fickle and can change quickly but we have control over our thoughts which then direct our feelings.
Fact: Our God is a loving God who desires a relationship with us as our father, but we must be willing to seek his relationship.
Just this week I had two messages from readers who commented on how my writing had touched their lives.
Thank you, Lord, for using my words to speak your love to them. Thank you for letting me know people are reading and you are speaking to them through the words you give me.
After all, it’s not about me, it is about you and how you’ve touched my life, then in turn how you can touch others. Forgive me for my selfishness and help me to step out of the way so readers can see you instead of me.
So, the next time you’re feeling down, focus on praising God and turn that frown upside down.