Will I let the moods of others dictate how I feel and act today?
This has been my guiding question over the last couple of weeks.
How does it work, to not be moved? Do I plaster a smile on my face? Go about my day as if nothing is happening around me? Humming peaceful songs under my breath as chaos erupts around me?
To not be moved. Not to be swayed. Not to fall away. Not to change course.
To accomplish that kind of stability, will I need to just have my head in the clouds, oblivious to what is happening around me?
No.
When I think about Jesus, that’s not what I imagine and that is not what I read in the pages of scripture.
He was real. He wasn’t floating around like a hovering angel, above the pain, needs and dysfunction around Him.
He saw the pain, the hurt, the need, and nothing kept Him from doing the will of the Father.
When people lacked belief. When people rejected Him. When people flogged and beat Him down. He didn’t stop doing the Father’s will. He continued in the trial set before Him. And, He continued to love those around Him. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
His purpose didn’t change based on the actions, feelings, or behavior of those around Him.
He was not moved.
Jesus’ command to me and to you in John 13:34, is to love one another. Although I search for a footnote explaining the times when I am not required to love, it is not found. I am to love. I am to love and not to be moved to do otherwise.
No matter how those around me are behaving. Rejecting my words. Arguing. Acting in an unpleasant manner.
The call to love remains.
When Paul was about to face certain danger by traveling to Jerusalem, he told of his immovability. He would not be moved or led away from the calling Jesus placed on his life.
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24.
Oh, to be counted among the immovable. The saints in the Bible who remained firm in their call to love. Remained firm in their call to share the gospel. Remained firm in their devotion to Christ at all times.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…Psalm 18:2
Today, I will not be moved.
I will not be moved by the behavior of those around me.
I will not be shaken.
I will not waiver from the path the Lord has for me.
I will not turn from love.
Today, I am not moved.
Not because of my strength.
Not because of my righteousness.
Today, I am not moved.
I am not moved because of His abundant love living in me.
I am not moved because of His unchanging ways.
I am not moved because of His Spirit powerfully filling me.
Lisa Louise 
This really spoke to me today -thank you so much for this post
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Oh I’m so glad. Thank you for reading.
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I think the ideal you almost described at the start is much like that of the Stoics. Stoicism was a philosophy in Jesus day that a lot of high brow Greeks aspired to. They made an effort to not be too deeply affected by events or people around them. They tried to hold an even keel. They assumed that accepting your fate with a smile at least avoided a lot of fuss, which surely would be ideal.
Stoicism is not always and entirely hostile to Christian faith, but is surely is not synonymous either. In fact, I would dare to say it is a denial of one’s full humanity. Oh yes, it is all about discipline, and as far as that goes, so is Jesus and Paul and all the good guys. But discipline to what end? Even Nazis had discipline, but it was discipline to evil ends.
On the contrary, Jesus loved much. He was moved by events and people around him. He reacted to the pain of others. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus, which is strange for a guy who has the power (and is about) to raise him back to life. But he wept. That was not a stoic smile, it was weeping and grief!
One day a woman with a personal bleeding issue touched his shirt and it stopped him in his tracks! I mean, he felt her through the shirt! Wow! And it stopped him in his tracks.
I would balance all that with a nod to the fact that Jesus often withdrew from the crowds to pray. He needed to get away from the hustle and hassle with some regularity. He did not fall apart over the pain of others; he responded with grace and healing – or sometimes even a stern word. He was focused on his agenda to rule the world in a healing way, and thus he was in touch with the world’s pain.
At least, that’s how I see it.
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God honors “showing up” and I’m thankful that He meets us when we do. Often we picture service as heroic and flashy, but doing what we do for Him with quiet faithfulness is a huge testimony of stability and is so God-honoring.
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Yes! He’s so good to meet us…so faithful!
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