What gets in the way of your happiness?

Proverbs 4:19:

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness, they do not know what makes us stumble.

It’s just not just the wicked (people who are ill-intentioned), who don’t know what makes them stumble.

stumbling

We don’t either and we need to know what makes us stumble, especially if we are prone to depression or the less serious,low moods.

If we know what gets in our way, we will be happier overall.

I know that for me if I am not well-rested, things  can get out of hand. I get irritable, cranky, etc. a post I wrote earlier was all about how exhaustion can be a real trigger for me.

So that’s my number one “stumbler”.

Others are stress, anxiety, and frustration, all of which wear me out and reduce my ability to cope.

But we need to recognize these stressors before they take hold. We need to look back over our day to see if our stressors are building up. Are we getting enough rest? Have we been frustrated a lot recently? And then we need to immediately take charge of ourselves.

stumbling

It’s kind of like dehydration. Once we realize we’re thirsty we are already dehydrated. The damage has already been done.

The good news is we have an example to follow.

Jesus is our example.

He “got away” whenever he needed to:

praying on a mountain

   falling asleep in a boat

    dinner with friends, etc.

I think sometimes we push ourselves more than God ever does. Actually, I know we do because Jesus said following him is supposed to be easy. “My burden is light and my yoke is easy”. Honestly, I have no clue what this really means because a burden and a yoke, the words themselves, don’t imply easy, do they? And yet Jesus said it’s supposed to be. So it must be that:

we’re the ones who make it hard.

We make it hard because we think we’re God. We attempt what only God can do and we ignore what we can do.

So ask yourself, “What makes me stumble?”. And when you figure it out, be on the alert and take steps to recognize it before it trips you up.

stumbling

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