No, I am not surprised that you decided to read this piece — the next minute you might not want to. It happens to the best of us. Mood swings can be triggered by hormonal shifts, climatic changes, but mostly by the decisions of others. Now, the first two we can’t control, but the latter? They say it’s up to us. Yet in my twenty-nine years of living, I haven’t cracked the code, because what people say and do somehow still gets to me.

But lately, as I transition into my 30s, I’ve become more cautious about my thoughts and what I consume, spending more time trying to stay on the good side of God, which helps diminish the need for human validation. You see, we are shaped by what we think, and our thoughts are influenced by what we hear.

So the next time you find yourself at an impasse, switching easily from one mood to another, just pause and ask why you’re angry. Let’s talk about Jonah for a bit, because I can relate to him — his mood wasn’t exactly stable, if you’d agree with me…

Jonah was a prophet in the Bible whom God asked to preach to the people of Nineveh so they could repent. But instead of obeying, he said “okay” and went in the opposite direction. My guess is that he intended to do what God asked at first, but then changed his mind — classic mood swing behaviour.

And then God, being God, showed him who was boss. Jonah went to sleep in the inner docks of the ship while massive turbulence shook everything. My question is: how did he find the peace and quiet to sleep? My guess is that he knew the turbulence was because of him. He didn’t mind the chance to die — but first, let him rest. I say this because when the others on the ship discovered he was the cause, he suggested that they throw him off the deck.

In the belly of the big fish that swallowed him, Jonah prayed and appealed to God’s compassion. You would think he would have learned his lesson, but after being released from the fish’s bowels, he went to Nineveh and preached. When the people repented — which is the very goal of preaching the gospel — guess what? He got angry.

God asked him, “Why are you angry?” Jonah was so upset that he didn’t go back home; instead, he asked God to kill him and lived out on the street. My question is: why would the repentance of an entire nation you preached to cause so much anger that you’d want to lose your life over it? Here’s why: Jonah thought they didn’t deserve a second chance — or any chance at repentance. They had sinned so much that, if it were up to him, he would have judged them to damnation. His thought pattern was the cause.

Fast forward to when God made a tree to provide Jonah with shade and bear fruit. He enjoyed it, but then God caused the tree to wither. Jonah got angry again, and God asked him why he was displeased about a tree dying — one he hadn’t worked for or planted. The short answer: “It was serving him.” And God was like, So how do you expect me to feel when the people I created and protected are perishing? How can I watch them die without attempting to save them?

You see, this story highlights something about most of us: what we don’t know, and what we think we know often become our biggest obstacles, because we blindly follow our thoughts. These days, I find solace in the Bible.

So when life feels heavy and moods swing like a pendulum, remember this: you don’t have to carry it all. Hand it over to God, because He sees beyond the moment and knows the bigger picture. What feels like chaos to us is already woven into His good plans. Rest in that assurance, and let peace replace the weight of trying to control what was never ours to hold.