Symptoms

Let’s face it. People are weird. I once knew a guy who could take a small chain necklace, suck it up his nose and make it come out his mouth. He called it brain floss. I call it weird. How does one discover he even has that particular talent in the first place?

There’s an entire society of people called the Procrastinator’s Club. We’re unsure of their exact membership. They keep waiting till tomorrow to fill out their roster. People are weird.

I heard about a guy who worked out all the time. Morning and evening he had a regular exercise routine. But for some reason he chose only to work out the right side of his body! His right arm and right leg were huge but his left side looked like flabby old me! People are weird.

My grandmother used to say, “Everybody’s weird but me and Thee and I’m getting worried about Thee.”

Maybe you’re not waiting till tomorrow to learn to brain floss or strengthen one side of your body or another, but I’ll bet you’ve got your own personal weirdness going on.

Maybe it’s not really weirdness. Maybe it’s morbid introspection. Maybe it’s depression. Perhaps it’s violent mood swings or outbursts of wrath. Maybe it’s a high degree of dissatisfaction or an unhealthy restlessness.

Fortunes have been made by helping people overcome these emotional hurdles. I wonder if we’ve ever stopped to consider that our worst emotional woes aren’t usually the cause of our problems, but a symptom of them.

In this season of revival I’ve seen God restore sinners to Himself. I’ve seen marriages saved, families healed, and individuals renewed in their Spirit. It’s been my privilege to watch God work. And as I’ve watched I’ve observed something interesting.

When someone is guilty of lying to or cheating on their spouse they are susceptible to emotional mood swings and outbursts of wrath. When someone struggles with addiction they are often melancholy, restless and dissatisfied. When people are bound up in materialism they struggle with seemingly unexplainable feelings of frustration.

Don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean every angry person is cheating on their spouse and it doesn’t mean every frustrated person is in bondage to materialism. It’s a simple observation. Most of the time our emotional mood swings are not the cause of a problem, but a very clear symptom of a problem.

The next time you catch yourself unexpectedly on an emotional roller coaster let that be the red flag to signal you it’s time to examine your own heart. The next time you are the target of someone else’s unexpected mood swing respond with grace and recognize there’s more there than meets the eye.

People are weird. I are people. So I are weird. God has given us all kinds of symptoms and signs to help us cut through the weirdness and become all he has designed us to be. Grace abounds. In this season of revival, during this Christmas holiday, pay close attention to the signs God has built in you and those around you. In doing so you may just save a sinner from hell, cover a multitude of sins and overcome in you those hurts, habits, and hang ups that weigh you down!

Love y'all, God Bless,
Chad