The Wrong Side of the Bed

"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" -Psalms 139: 23-24

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:6

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." -Ephesians 5:15-16

Men, if you're anything like me you have those days where it feels like it would have just been better if you would have stayed in bed and not talked to anyone. Yeah, those days come up for everyone. We can't stay on a spiritual high 24/7 expecting ourselves to just free flow on a cloud of happiness every day of our lives. Let's be realistic. We're flawed humans with tons of chemicals running through our bodies keeping us balanced or unbalanced at times. We are unique specimens that God created in amazing complexity. Some days we just feel "off" and not like our usual self.

Recently I called my accountability partner to tell him I felt unrest in my heart and body. It was like the feeling of having a tiny pebble in my shoe, the kind that just makes your regular steps a bit off. Nothing major to point the finger at really, but just a feeling that there's a bit of unrest in your inner workings. The kind of feeling you feel when starting your day off  by getting up on the wrong side of the bed. The kind of day where you're more irritable and grouchy with a quicker fuse when somebody does something that bothers you. It's a feeling of frustration and annoyance. We all know this feeling we have on certain days. I typically feel this anxious feeling when I'm stuck trying to figure out my future instead of being present in what God has called me to do today.

So what do you do on days like that where you just want to go crawl back into bed and sleep the day away? Well as my buddy expressed to me, typically that feeling of unrest is an issue of the heart where there's a matter of sin that hasn't been addressed. I took his words and decided to go get alone with God and pour my heart out to him telling him how I feel and to forgive any sin or wrong motives of my heart. It's interesting how when we drop our guard with God and express how we feel as he covers us with his peace. The Bible tells us to ask God to search the inner workings of our hearts to shine his light on any wrong motive or action we are holding onto which can cause unrest and frustration which can lead us to lash out at others and even ruin our testimony. So the next time you feel this way, get alone with God and put yourself on his altar for mercy with all of your unanswered questions, prayer requests, fears of the future, and anxiety. This all needs to be thrown at his feet as you surrender to his leading and hand him back your cares and concerns. Doing this along with confessing your sin and asking God to show you your wrong motives in your heart will prepare you to finish the rest of your day strong for the Lord. Please don't let one bad day ruin what you've spent so long trying to build up with your testimony!

God can take your unrest and give you peace.