Life Choices; Happiness or Depression.

I thought I would post part two of “Hearing God When He Speaks” today, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to look further into that topic. So I started to think what else I could share, and I was reminded of something that happened today.

I was excited, beyond words, by a very small occourance.
I did my walking/jogging two miles this morning; afterwards, finding that my clean shirt to wear in place of my sweaty, smelly workout clothes was drying, I walked out to my garden till it had finished. Of course, I got pulled into weeding and cutting dead stems, and trying in general to make it look nicer. As I was cutting and clipping and what-not, I noticed, to my utter surprise and delight, that one of my presumed-dead Hostas was re-emerging! Oh, joy! And to cap off the delight, my Japenesse Fern (also presumed dead) had sent up two lovely little leaves! Could life get any sweeter?! The combination of a good workout and the joys of new life can really make my day……unfortunately, my day could (and did) go downhill.

“Why?” you ask? No real reason. But I have gotten into the habit of ‘making myself upset’. Self-inflicted depression, if that’s even a term. I seldom get through a whole day without dragging myself through ‘the mire’.

A friend brought it up just the other day; she mentioned how I used to be so happy, ”bubbly all the time”; and what had happened? That’s a question I ask myself.

I think it has to do with the relationship you have with Christ. In Isaiah 26:3, God promises us ”He will keep you in perfect peace, if your mind is stayed on Him; if you trust in Him” (paraphrased). It goes to follow that the closer you are to God, the more you trust Him to satisfy all your needs and desires, the happier you’ll be. I must admit that all too often I think I must take care of such-and-such, thinking it too trivial a matter for God; or even sometimes far too important for me not to have a say in it; to trust anyone but myself to take care of it. When you fall into that way of thinking, you’re leading yourself down the path of despair and failure. Because you can’t do everything yourself perfectly; you are going to let yourself down.

Happiness is a choice you make. You don’t just ”wake up happy”; you make the choice to be happy this day. To rejoice, for ”this is the day the Lord has made”. Choose to seek Christ this day. C.S. Lewis once said “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done…”.

God has been bringing this ‘unhappiness issue’ to the forefront in my life lately; through books I’m reading, movies I’ve watched, conversations, and even friends blogging (Lynz and Amy Elizabeth). I feel like He’s finally had to resort to hitting me over the head to get it.

I’m resolving to follow His lead; to choose to be happy this day.