Moods

 

Some older female readers may identify with the lady who said, “Sometimes I wake up GRUMPY early in the morning...!“  And then she added: “At other times I let him sleep till he’s ready to get up by himself!”  It reminds me of that 1993 movie with the title, ‘Grumpy Old Men’.  I mention this because I’m at that stage of life where I pray a little more often, “Lord, please keep me from being a grumpy old man!”

My family may have different recollections but I’ve generally thought of myself as a relatively even tempered person.  In contrast there was a cobber of mine who often swung between extreme highs and lows.  I envied him in those moments when he was on top of the world and nothing could daunt his enthusiasm.  But his lows were sad to see and difficult for friends and family to navigate.

The dictionary defines ‘mood’ as a temporary state of mind or feeling.  All of us – unless we are psychopaths – know all about moods – good moods and bad moods.  That’s part and parcel of life.

This morning’s early walk along the beach was exhilarating.  Feeling the cool sea breeze on one’s skin and watching the endless rhythm of the surf quickly dissipates any negative thought one might have.  Watching the cormorants diving for baitfish and the water dragons sunning themselves on the rocks lifts one’s soul in praise to our Creator God.  Words, at such times, seem woefully inadequate as one embraces God’s goodness and love.  In those moments life is good and we’d love to capture on camera, not only the scenes, but also the mood they produced in us.

But a while back the mood pendulum had swung the other way for me.  A woman – who had spent much time in our home as a teenager and had been a good friend of my daughter – died under tragic circumstances.  As if that wasn’t sad enough, her husband, was soon after charged with her murder.  If that news negatively affected my own mood, think of the utter devastation it must have triggered in her own family.  In such moments songs of praise are a long way from one’s mind.  Instead it brought to my mind the prayer: ‘Come Lord Jesus, come quickly ...and end the madness of this world!’

The Psalms offer us some helpful perspectives when it comes to navigating our various moods.  What I love about the Psalms is that they reflect so many varied situations of life... and the different moods that those circumstances produce in us.  It seems to me that you will always be able to find a Psalm that mirrors your current mood.  There’s Psalm 22 for those moments when you feel totally abandoned by God.  Jesus took the opening words of that Psalm on his lips as He suffered the torments of hell on the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’  There’s Psalm 18 for those moments when faith finds itself on the mountaintops: ‘With you I can attack a barricade, and with my God I can leap over a wall.’

Two things we should especially remember when it comes to moods.  First, moods are distinct from facts.  Moods change.  Facts don’t.  Too often we let moods and not facts control our day.  Do that and we’re headed for trouble.  Imagine that tomorrow morning I wake up feeling miserable – and it’s never hard to find reasons to be miserable.  So my mood is setting me up for a bad-hair day.  What I need to do is sit on my bed and ask myself some questions about facts.  Did God send His son into the world to make a difference in my life?  He sure did!  Did Jesus die on the cross to pay for my sin and to reconcile me to God?  Absolutely!  Did Jesus rise from the dead and ascend into heaven so that I might enjoy new life under His protecting hand?  For sure!  Well, if all of that is true, stop being miserable, get up and get on with it.

The second thing to remember is closely linked to this.  It is our faith that is the remedy for those moods that leave us ‘down in the mouth’.  Psalm 42 twice asks the question, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”  The answer both times is: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him.”

John Westendorp
2MaxFM November 17th 2024

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