The roller coaster

Some people are familiar with plotting things on a graph. A graph takes raw information and makes a visual representation of it. It can show trends. Dots can be placed on a grid and then connected to show a pattern. If we were to chart our spiritual life, what would the graph look like? For most people, it would look like a wave going up and down across the grid of time, like a roller coaster at an amusement park. Everyone has their ups and downs. Circumstances change throughout life. Emotions ebb and flow. Finances come and go, people change, success and failure happen, and opportunities open and close. Sometimes we feel strong, and other times we feel weak. Sometimes we get the good we hoped for, and other times we are disappointed. Navigating these things is the art of living.

Even the great heroes of the Bible experienced these things, and they are written for us to learn from and to be encouraged by (1Cor 10:1-13). There are many clear examples in the book of Psalms. There are 150 psalms. 73 of them are directly attributed to David, and others were likely written by him. He is called the sweet psalmist of Israel (2Sam 23:1), but when we pay attention to the words of his psalms, we can see the roller coaster of his life. This is confirmed by the accounts of his life in 1 and 2Samuel and 1Chronicles. Sometimes we can even see this within one psalm. He goes from being despondent because of his circumstances to rejoicing in God for His sovereignty (Ps 3, Ps 4, Ps 6, Ps 10, Ps 11, Ps 12, Ps 13, Ps 14, Ps 17, Ps 22, Ps 31, Ps 35, Ps 52, Ps 54, Ps 55, Ps 56, Ps 57, Ps 58, Ps 59, Ps 60, Ps 61, Ps 62, Ps 63, Ps 64, Ps 69, Ps 70, Ps 71, Ps 86, Ps 109, Ps 124, Ps 140, Ps 142, Ps 143). Most often he was praying about his enemies. He goes from feeling separated from God because of his sin to high confidence in his relationship with Him (Ps 32, Ps 38, Ps 39, Ps 41, Ps 51, Ps 65). Sometimes we have to encourage ourselves (1Sam 30:1-6, Ps 42:5 & 11, Ps 43:5, Ps 62:5, Ps 103:1-2 & 22, Ps 104:1 & 35, Ps 116:7, Ps 146:1, 2Tim 4:16-17).

There is another pattern which can appear on a graph. It is the one we often see depicted in business settings. This is a somewhat jagged line trending up or down. Sometimes an arrow is at the end of the line showing which way things are trending. This is different than the roller coaster line. It shows the overall pattern of either success or failure. Hopefully, it is pointing upward and not downward. Ideally, it is a smooth line trending up, but the reality is that there will be some places where it is not perfectly straight, showing short downturns but an overall upwards trend. This is the type of line showing our spiritual life that God wants for us. Ideally, we should always keep His commandments and do what He wants. However, the reality is that none of us is perfect, so there will be occasional dips where we don't get it right (rom 3:23). The grace of God will help us overcome (Rom 6:23, Eph 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-13). When that happens, we should repent and get back on track. God is looking at our overall trend to see if we are heading towards Him or away from Him. A great passage that illustrates this well is 1John 1:5-2:6. 1John 2:1 says, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".

God wants us to get off the emotional rollercoaster and have a more balanced and consistent life and relationship with Him and others. Truth is the great balancer. You can read another article on this website about that. Our emotions are not evil in themselves, even including anger (Eph 4:26). We need to control them rather than them controlling us. We need to learn to channel our emotions into productive and beneficial responses to life. Some people were never taught how to do this in their childhood, but it is never too late to start learning. Spiritual growth is a process that goes on throughout life. We need not get discouraged and quit over momentary setbacks. We can keep working on it, and God is faithful to help us improve as we go.