Do you ever get in a “mood”? Not really so much a bad mood, just irritable and unable to place a finger on exactly what it is that is creating the “mood”. These past few days I’ve been in one of these moods. I have been irritable, cranky and just out of sorts. In fact I told a friend a few days ago that “the very presence of people was annoying me”. Keep in mind, these people had done nothing to me, we hadn’t even spoken to each other. Like I said, I’ve been in a mood! A couple of problems with this mood and my inability to shake it off. One, I’m supposed to be loving God, loving people, and giving God my best. It is kind of hard to do any of these things when the very sight of people is annoying you. The other problem here is that this clearly is not the way to live a God honoring life. 

My time alone with God has also been strained, I’ve been going through the motions so to speak. But leaving that time feeling empty, disappointed and drained, unsure of how to move past this “mood”. When I walked downstairs this morning I noticed a gorgeous sunrise, the changing colors of the leaves made the scene more awesome. I thought to myself, “you should get a cup of coffee, go outside and just sit and watch the beautiful show God is putting on display”. Walking into our kitchen I was distracted by various household things, none of them uber important but distracting nonetheless. But God, thankfully, pulled my attention back to that sunrise, so I got my coffee and stepped out onto the front porch to just watch and be for a few minutes. Standing there I said a silent prayer – “God please help me figure this out and get me back on the right track”. Coming inside I picked up my Bible and journal, sat down and wrote “Here I am Jesus, I have no idea what my problem is, but here I am ready to sit, listen and wait. Holy Spirit, please lead me.” 

After a few minutes of quiet, I heard a whisper – “turn to Romans 8”. Flipping through my Bible, the pages opened to Romans 8:12-13 “So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Those words were like a cool drink of water on a hot day, and just what I needed to pull my attention away from myself. What became clear to me was that I was relying on my own meager efforts (obligated to the flesh) to shake this mood away. I had been looking for a quick fix, unwilling to ask for help from the Spirit that lives in me. Unwilling to take or make time to sit, listen and wait. Relying on my abilities and power, instead of tapping into the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me. 

My experience this morning reminded me of the message shared with our high school student this past weekend. It came from 1 Kings 18-19, in particular 19:11-12 “Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.” At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.” Just like Elijiah, had I not been prompted to be quiet and listen I would have missed the Spirit’s whisper. I needed to hear what Romans 8 has to say and I never would have got there on my own. I needed my Savior’s help! 

Romans 8 goes on to say in verse 15 “You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out “Abba Father!”” God was gracious enough to give us His Spirit to live inside of us, go where we go, see what we see, experience what we experience. There is never a time when He leaves us! How often do we forget this amazing truth?! How quickly do we fall back into old habits of slavery to our sinful selves? Just because we have a bad day or get disappointing news or walk through various trials doesn’t mean God has left us! Yes, it feels that way at times. Yes, this life is hard. Yes, there is unexplained suffering, loss, and circumstances that make zero sense to us, even people we love who are hurting and dying. But God!

Check out Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” and 8:31 “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”  So, you’re having a bad day, week, month or even year. Who are you relying on to get you through? God or yourself? I long for the day when my first instinct is to run to God instead of trying to fight the battle on my own! I encourage you to take a few minutes and read all of Romans 8 , it is full and rich!

Where did my “mood” come from? I’m not entirely sure other than I have an enemy fighting against me in this life on earth. He is sneaky and will use the littlest of things to knock us off our game and convince us that we are fighting a losing battle all alone. Which is simply not true! We have the Spirit of Jesus living inside of us. Let me leave you with 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” Let’s start tapping into His power instead of relying on ourselves!