Cling to what is Good
In times of yucky feels & in times of overjoyed states of mind we need to cling to what is good. Cling to the One who is constant in all the yuck & the yay.
I often regard the success of something as whether or not it was executed well. But in fact things can be a success without them going "perfectly." Last night I was at dancing, I was getting the moves right (a typical success indicator) no one laughed at me, I felt included, I enjoyed myself and I was happy. But as the thought "this was a great night, I was successful tonight," popped into my head, I had to slam it down super fast. See although I had a good night, all of my successes were based on my emotions, which we know can lead us astray sometimes (most of the time.) To affirm it was a good night due to these things means I will regard a night where I make mistakes or I feel down as a bad night, an unsuccessful night. And after thinking this I will sink further into a bad mood and bad self talk will ensue and take over. I will then connect feeling like this to going to dancing. Not a good end goal huh?
I often regard the success of something as whether or not it was executed well. But in fact things can be a success without them going "perfectly." Last night I was at dancing, I was getting the moves right (a typical success indicator) no one laughed at me, I felt included, I enjoyed myself and I was happy. But as the thought "this was a great night, I was successful tonight," popped into my head, I had to slam it down super fast. See although I had a good night, all of my successes were based on my emotions, which we know can lead us astray sometimes (most of the time.) To affirm it was a good night due to these things means I will regard a night where I make mistakes or I feel down as a bad night, an unsuccessful night. And after thinking this I will sink further into a bad mood and bad self talk will ensue and take over. I will then connect feeling like this to going to dancing. Not a good end goal huh?
Likewise if I connected going to dancing to everytime needing to be really good, happy, included etc. I would begin to put my worth and my joy in it (like I used to years ago.) Each night that didn't look like this perfect night, I would beat myself up because of this connection, this weld.
So I need to turn it to God. He is constant, never changing. I need to cling to what is good. Then, when I have a "bad night" I won't come tumbling down because my expectations aren't on the line and my emotions and wellbeing are safe in the fact that I'm okay whether it was fab or crap.
It is well, with my soul, is one of my favourite hymns. It's basic message is that though a tonne of stuff might be falling to pieces, or when stuff is super epic, my soul is allgood cause God's got me. I'm safe in His arms. It is well with me despite everything. The good and the bad.
It's such an important reminder because we can get so caught up in the lies that we are only okay when stuff is going well and while it's fine to not be okay sometimes, it doesn't mean that we are inherently bad or damaged goods. No, it means that life's happening and despite that, we are well. We, deep down, ourselves, are fine. There are dumb situations and maybe they hurt us (maybe a lot) but when we don't place our worth in stuff that is so unsure, like how our day will go and other people & their own moods and issues, we we place it in something consistently Good, we have a sense of calm amidst the storm, knowing that above it all, it is well.
So I need to turn it to God. He is constant, never changing. I need to cling to what is good. Then, when I have a "bad night" I won't come tumbling down because my expectations aren't on the line and my emotions and wellbeing are safe in the fact that I'm okay whether it was fab or crap.
It is well, with my soul, is one of my favourite hymns. It's basic message is that though a tonne of stuff might be falling to pieces, or when stuff is super epic, my soul is allgood cause God's got me. I'm safe in His arms. It is well with me despite everything. The good and the bad.
It's such an important reminder because we can get so caught up in the lies that we are only okay when stuff is going well and while it's fine to not be okay sometimes, it doesn't mean that we are inherently bad or damaged goods. No, it means that life's happening and despite that, we are well. We, deep down, ourselves, are fine. There are dumb situations and maybe they hurt us (maybe a lot) but when we don't place our worth in stuff that is so unsure, like how our day will go and other people & their own moods and issues, we we place it in something consistently Good, we have a sense of calm amidst the storm, knowing that above it all, it is well.
Sometimes what we deem as "good" isn't always the good we should seek. Being "happiness driven" instead of God driven can be messy because happiness will inevitably not be there at some point or another. He is Good. Always. He is never not good. His intentions for us, His ways & His actions are good. It's about perspective hey.
Cling to what - or should we say Who - is good.
Read the book You Are Special by Max Lucado - it changed my perspective BIG TIME.
Cling to what - or should we say Who - is good.
Read the book You Are Special by Max Lucado - it changed my perspective BIG TIME.
"Love from the centre of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply." Romans 12:9-10 MSG
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