God is still God

Just a thought to ponder . . . no matter how I feel today, God is still God. How I feel doesn't change God's existence, character, or love for me. He always works "all things together for good to those who love God". Romans 8:28

God is the unchanging constant in life. Our emotions, or feelings, have ebb and flow and are always changing. I know this but when something happens that threatens me, I struggle. Here's what usually happens. A life event happens that I don't like. I have a negative flood of emotion. I panic . . .

I like to compare myself to Billy Bob Thornton who plays Davy Crockett in The Alamo. There's a line in the movie where he bravely says, "I've got to warn you, I'm a screamer!" The only difference between me and Billy Bob is that I scream because I'm chicken! Yup, that's me - a chicken screamer.

I've been praying about learning to deal with this flood of emotion. The cycle is almost always the same: bad thing happens, I assess that this cannot be good, I forget that God is working all things together for my good, panic, and then I react in a way that I wish I hadn't.

Somewhere in this scenario a major flaw in my thinking has occurred - I'm not understanding that regardless of the event, God is still God. I begin to look toward something else for life, security, love, value . . .

So, I'm practicing learning to think differently; then I can actually choose a godly response. So, bad thing happens, I look to God and say, "God, I'm so glad that You're in control and that You love me. You love me even though You know me. Thank You that I can relax and watch to see what You're about to do."

Actually, it goes something more like this. "God, are You seeing this?! Can You believe that such-and-such happened or so-and-so said that. I'm glad You're here, in control - taking care this. I'm glad that You love me even though You know me. Hey, that means that You love them even though You know them. What do You want me to do now? Relax and watch what You're about to do? Oh, makes sense."

Reality: God is good and big and in control. This nothing for Him.