Following the Lord Regardless of Our Estate

Psalm 126:5-6
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Do you see what is incredible in this portion of scripture? It's not necessarily the results of joy. It's the fact that the ones who came back with joy did what was required of them regardless of "how they felt." They went beyond their emotions and they obeyed the Lord.

Why does this mean so much to me? I make excuses. I have a chronic disease when not kept in check will result in wicked mood swings. So how do I combat that? I now do everything I possibly can to keep things in check. I let the Lord take care of me so I can be obedient to me. And sometimes I have to really pay attention to Him so I don't get out of line.

This last Sunday was a perfect example. My day starts at about 5 in the morning and I'm usually home by 12. This week we had a visiting pastor, so we went out for lunch (I was expecting this so I made provisions to keep things in check physically). We had a meeting that went a little longer than expected after that (uh oh, I didn't plan for that). That meeting ran right up to my next meeting (not to worry, I can text my wife to bring me something so that I can keep physical things in check). Oh no! I can't find my phone - I must have left it in the car, the car that my wife is now driving (no worries, I can slip over to the computer and still text my wife - phew).

The meeting is now done and hopefully my wife is there with the nourishment I need to get through the prayer service which starts in 5 minutes. I get down the stairs and there's my beautiful bride - I'm saved. "Did you get my message?" I ask. "My phone is dead," is the answer.

Okay, all is not lost - I'm not quite in bad shape yet, but he rumblings are there. If I slip out early and go home I can avoid the mood swings and be okay. I can't go home - we have a FEMALE babysitter at home. Egad! This doesn't look good.

Fortunately, my wife had the time to run and pick me up something during the music and I had time to take care of things and we both were able to serve the Lord that night.

All this to say is that sometimes we choose not to serve the Lord because of how we feel (sometimes it's legitimate - mostly we are copping-out). But we go ahead and obey, even in the midst of emotional turmoil, we are more likely to return with joy - true joy in the Lord, because we died to self and put Him first in our lives.