Is God moody?

I've recently been introduced to the idea that God is always in a good mood. But being in a good mood doesn't necessarily mean that He's always happy.
Hmm... There's a thought right there.
When I did the Living Wisdom counseling course with David Riddell, we learned about moods and emotions. There is a state of being called a default mood. This mood is what you feel when you're not experiencing any other emotions. It's like our screen saver for our life. It can be positive or negative and you can train yourself out of a negative into a positive. Let me give you an example. If I have a default mood of feeling overwhelmed, then maybe while I am out with my friends I can have a good time, I can enjoy myself, but when I get home the feeling of being overwhelmed slots in and I will spend any down time stressed and trying to avoid being overwhelmed. Maybe my kid does something naughty and I go into angry mode for a bit, but once it settles down and is sorted out then I flip back into feeling overwhelmed, maybe spending time thinking about how much trouble my kids are causing me or whatever. A default mood is what you revert to when you're not experiencing any other emotion.

Often, our default moods are negative, but they can just as easily be positive. But it's difficult to have a positive and helpful default mood if your self confidence, or identity is in anyone else other than God, our Dad. I've worked with many hundreds of children over the years, some in church, some on camps, many in schools and I can see very clearly those who know they are loved and those who have to earn their love or are unaware of people's love for them. You can tell by their default mood. Who are they when they're not doing anything? Who are they when they're not experiencing other emotions? How do they see themselves? It's the same with us and our Dad in Heaven. If we are not sure of His love and affection for us, it's very difficult to have a positive default mood.
Luckily God doesn't have that problem. He's got great self-esteem. He's perfectly aware of His capabilities. He's in love with all of His children. He works with a great team of people. How could He not be in a good mood all the time?

Ok, let's go a little deeper. I can hear you say that the Bible has records of God experiencing emotions such as wrath, jealousy, compassion, sorrow, joy, anguish etc and this is completely true. We are created in our Father's image. We experience the same emotions as He does. The difference is - He doesn't let His emotions change His mood. Selah. (That means think about and dwell on this statement.

Here are some examples that should illustrate what I mean.
Let's say we have a couple of parents that love their children and want the best for them. Mum gets a phone call from school saying that her daughter has badmouthed her teacher. If Mum's default mood is not a good one, then it's likely that this disappointing news will affect the rest of her day. And the rest of the family know to stay out of Mum's way when she's in a bad mood. Mum will wait for Dad to come home from work and then they will decide on a punishment to make sure that their daughter understands that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable. Now obviously this is a very loose example of family life, but it's the way I see many families working.
Now, if mum's default mood is positive, then she will be disappointed at the choices their daughter made, but it's not going to affect the rest of her day because she knows the daughter is responsible for her own messes and is responsible to fix them herself. Mum will wait for Dad to come home so they can work with their daughter as she figures out how she can fix the mess and mend the breach of respect or whatever.
Our Dad is always in a good mood because even though He experiences other emotions, He doesn't respond to us out of hurt or disappointment - He always respond out of love. He will always discipline with a level head. And He always disciplines for our good, not to teach us a lesson. Punishment and discipline are different. Punishment is done out of fear and discipline is done out of love.
Here's another example from a different point of view. Let's look at young children and their interactions. Let's consider the little boy who is playing with a toy and another kid snatches it off him. A second ago he is happy. Now he is devastated. But as soon as the offender gives him back his toy, all is forgiven. I'm not sure it's forgotten but I want to hazard a guess that it is. Why? Because I never hear a four year old bring up old offences as an excuse to have a bad day. I have not witnessed a young child sitting alone dwelling on the time their toy was snatched. Children in secure homes always start with a positive default mood. (Now tiredness is not part of a default mood - it's just part of growing up.) Children learn from their environments what kind of moods are acceptable. I heard a 12 year old girl tell me that life was going to be  hard for her parents when she turned 16. I asked her why and she told me that she was going to be a moody teenage girl. When I told her that she was able to choose whether her moods were good or bad, she had no idea what I was  talking about. I think I'm beginning to see why Jesus tells us to become like little children. Their lives are so less complicated and they have this uncanny ability to trust their caregivers to do what needs to be done. What will it take for us to trust our Dad like that?

Our trouble is when we start making God out to be like us, rather than us becoming more like Him. When we have an incomplete picture of God's nature, then we start filling in the gaps with what we know - which is us and our moods and emotions. For so long the church (as a whole) has seen God as judgemental, afraid of sin and waiting to unleash His wrath upon the world. Now the Father's love is spreading across the world, but it's still in the state of having one foot in each camp. People know that God loves us unconditionally, yet they still think that sin separates us from Him. If we are born again, then we have to believe the Word of God when it says that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:38). All sin from the beginning of time until the end of time has been forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our co-heir of the Kingdom of Heaven.

God is perfectly capable of dealing with our issues and it not affecting His mood. He is saddened by those who take the life of others, but He still loves them. His heart aches for them. But His mood is not affected. He is in a good mood all the time. He operates with a clear head and disciplines out of love. Our trouble is when we look at how God interacted with the Israelites in the Old Testament. What we see of God in the OT is different to what we see of God in the New Testament. Is this because He has changed? No. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But how He disciplines us is different. Not because He has changed, but because He added Jesus into the mix. Let's look at this through an example. Say I have a few biological children and we decide to adopt a foster child. Now my expectations for the foster child are going to be very different from those for my biological children. Am I the same person? Yes. Do I have the same long term goals for all my children? Yes. Is my mode of discipline consistent with all my children? No. Is it fair for me to punish a child for a misdemeanour already repented of and sorted out? Not at all. So how can we think that God is still punishing us for our sins when they've already been forgiven? He doesn't!! But if we choose not to see His good mood, or receive His unconditional love, then we will forever be trying to avoid sin so we can commune with Him. Let me tell you - it's no longer about sin*. Sin is finished. It's dealt with. It no longer separates us from Him. It's about relationship with Him. The more we focus on strengthening our relationship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus and Daddy God, then less we sin. I don't know how it works - but it does.

My heart's desire is that all people can  know and understand God's unconditional love for us. That he loves us so much that He will discipline us in love and comfort us through the growing process. That He's always in a good mood and just like a parent delights in the excitement and joy of their child - God in His perfection delights to a higher standard! I want people to be able to receive the goodness and favour of their Heavenly Dad especially when they feel they don't deserve it!! It's not easy. But I'm learning. I invite you into this glorious state of relaxing in His love, no striving, no earning. At first it feels wrong. But that's only if you value your feelings more than the voice of the Holy Spirit. I want to walk in His Presence and learn to be like my Dad - to be in a good mood all the time.

* We still sin, as an action, but we are no longer seen as 'sinners' if we are born again. Our focus should be on keeping our relationship in tact with God and others around us - repenting at a breach of friendship or trust - not repenting to get 'back in' to Heaven. It doesn't work like that any more.