When All isn't Well

Isn't it amazing how happiness seems so fleeting but sadness seems to last forever?

Why is that? Because we allow our emotions to consume us. Our society has led us to believe that emotions are the be all and end all of our lives. They are real in that we experience them, but they are not real in that they should not control us. If we don't "feel" love then we get a divorce. If we don't "like" our boss, then we get another job. Everything is temporary.

If you are riding a roller coaster, you may experience fear. Yet you allow your mind to take control of the emotion of fear and replace it with logic and the knowledge that the ride is safe. Otherwise, all roller coaster operators would be unemployed.

But somehow, we don't realize the need to take control of other emotions in our lives. When disappointment strikes, we wallow in it. When sadness comes, we choose to let it control us for a given amount of time. I did this when my dad died. And even when I began to emerge from that, I experienced guilt because my mother would tell me I had no idea how she felt - in other words, it was wrong for me to move past the sadness sooner than she did.

In fact, oftentimes, we do allow others to tell us how to feel. Or we allow them the freedom to "cause" our emotions. Like Job in the Old Testament whose friends and wife tried to tell him to "curse God and die" when bad things happened. Did Job grieve the loss of his wealth, livelihood, sons and daughters? Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with grief, or even with sadness. But at the end of the road, Job knew that God was in control and trusted God to bring him through the devastating times. He never lost sight of Who God is.

So when you are devastated and overwhelmed by the occurrences in your life that threaten to bring you down, remember that God doesn't let things happen to us without His permission, and His help, if we will simply seek it, to get through it. And in Jeremiah 29:11 God promised us "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope."