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Throughout a person's life they might experience some incredible highs in their relationship with Christ. They might receive answers to prayers and/or a bounty of unexpected blessings. A person might also at times find themselves very unsure and seemingly lost in a dark wilderness. But what about on a daily basis? A person may look in the mirror in the morning after spending a wonderful morning alone in prayer with the Heavenly Father only to look in that same mirror in the evening and realize they had avoided seeking God, praising God and sharing His love.

What does the Scripture say about this? Are there any biblical characters who struggle with this?

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this tends towards a pastoral question. Might want to rephrase to make it a little more objective, e.g "What does the Scripture say about this? Are there any biblical characters who struggle with this? How do they handle it?" – Thomas Shields Apr 29 '12 at 19:14
@DoubtingThomas Changed per request of your point of question possibly being too general. – E1Suave Apr 29 '12 at 19:35
@cwallenpoole thank you for the title change. This certainly helps keep the focus on the point of the question. Great word as well (Vacillating) :–) – E1Suave May 9 '12 at 21:40

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This seems more to refer to the phenomena which Paul recounts when he says, 'I die daily'; in short, one may wake up in the morning with hope that he will walk according to the ways of God, but in the evening find that he hasn't. This is not bipolar; it is realistic and one of the reasons each person can say with certainty, 'I am the chief of all sinners'.

In his novel Till We Have Faces, Lewis has a good recounting of this phenomena - of waking up trying to do and be good, and finding it impossible by the end of the day.

One thing to consider is this: One's relationship with God is not a matter of feelings of peace or good intentions; it is to walk the path of Christ himself which is a path of suffering (consider the Beatitudes.) Thus why Paul says, "I die daily."

According to modern psychological practice and tradiiton, a spiritually healthy person may seem deranged simply because they are not trying to feel good; they are trying to be good. And that involves a lifelong path of, as far as any man may know for himself, feeling bad. There are plenty of NT quotes from even the Lord himself to support this. And this is precisely why, as far as I can tell, the actual peace surpasses understanding.

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Not sure about the bipolar condition specifically, but there is an interesting Biblical story very similar to what you describe in the life of Elijah.

In 1 Kings 18, he wins a powerful victory over the Baal prophets, with clear Divine intervention. However, in the very next chapter, he becomes suicidal:

He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Verse 4b

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