Hooked on a Feeling?
There was a catchy “Grumpy” song that used to come on in between kid’s shows that, if I sang it, would turn my son’s foul mood even more sour. (See below.) It was supposed to make light of and improve his grumpy mood, but much to my amusement, the song backfired when sung to my oldest. He’d clench his fists and yell, “Don’t sing that!”
We just watched Inside Out 2 last night, and the movie reminded me of that song. If you haven’t seen it yet, Inside Out 2 is a coming-of-age story where the overall premise is about a girl hitting puberty who must learn to control her emotions to discover who she really is. Life can be a battle for our nature. Feelings are fickle and can lead us astray if we let our emotions control us. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There’s a way that seems right to man, but it leads to death.” We can’t navigate our lives by what we feel. Our emotions will lead us astray and down paths where we shouldn’t go.
Dennis Prayer, author of Happiness is a Serious Problem, says, “Act happy then you have a chance to be happy. If you wait to feel it, you will rarely act it.”
Controlling our emotions is not an easy thing to do. My son has his road test today to get his driver’s license and although I know he’s a good driver and I shouldn’t worry, my subconscious thought otherwise. I think I woke up every hour last night. Every time I looked at the clock, I had to take my thoughts captive and submit them to the feet of Jesus.
God is in control. I trust his plan. I’m trusting my son will pass and if he doesn’t then I trust that God has a good reason. While his passing the test would make us both happy, being behind the wheel of a two ton vehicle isn’t something to take lightly. Happiness is fleeting, but the joy of the Lord is consistent and filled with a contented peace.
Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
Solomon pursued every form of happiness, looking for the meaning of life, through wine, women, and food, but in the end, determined it was a chasing after the wind. The wisest man in the world decided we must cling to God and keep an eternal perspective even when we don’t always understand the ups and downs.
American writer and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It’s to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
I believe living well, is living for God. I’ve learned that when I live to please God, I experience a contented joy that isn’t followed by the sugar-crash that seeking worldly happiness and pleasure pursuits brings. If we’re guided by our emotions, then our emotions become our god. Instead, live to please the Lord and receive His joy.
By the way, my son just walked in with a big smile. He passed!