Dazed and Confused

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks, months, years) where you just struggle to put one foot in front of the other? For the sake of transparency, I’ve had more than my share of those days the past two years. I have great intentions for the day or the week, but then I fall way short as my energy is exhausted and my motivation is chugging along up a steep incline. It’s difficult in those moments to think clearly and even more difficult to “take charge of your emotions.”

I know, I know. We are supposed to “act our way into a feeling” not “feel our way into an action”, but sometimes that just “feels” impossible.

I guess I need to take some clues from the king of mistakes and how to get out of them; King David himself. He is the “poster boy” for those of us that are constantly falling down and losing our momentum. He is also the expert on how to correct the path and find a new rhythm. Here is a conversation he has with himself when he was in one of his many “pits of despair”:

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation ⁶ and my God. My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar. (Psalm 42:5,6 ESV)

David was literally talking to himself – encouraging his spirit to get up and get moving. Notice what he did – he commanded his spirit to have hope and praise God. There is something about CHOOSING to be hopeful and CHOOSING to worship that unleashes a supernatural power that fills us and strengthens us to get out of the pit and pursue our purpose.

BUT, it requires intentionality. It requires that we make choices that swim against the current of our emotions and lack of motivation. How bad do you want it?

When we lose sight of our hope and our purpose, it leaves us feeling “dazed and confused”. Those feelings will kill our passion and stick us in a pit that is almost impossible to climb out of. The answer is not easy, but it’s also not complicated. We have to make the choice to rejoice. If we take the few steps toward Joy, He runs the rest of the way and fills us with His presence and His peace and His ENERGY! We don’t have to stay in the pit.

We tend to look at life like it’s an event, something to conquer or complete, and we forget that we’re actually on a journey. So, we get bogged down with the weight of the event, when God is simply wanting us to enjoy His presence and the journey that He has us on. The journey’s destination? His presence, His heart. That’s why we can speak to ourselves and encourage the joyful moments and find peace as we travel from glory to glory. Just don’t quit. Stay the course…endure.