Emotions
Hurt people hurt people, but whole people heal people. Brokenness is openness to God to receive healing from Him.
Emotions are there to protect us and when we hurt it is a signal that we have been taken advantage of or that there is a need in us that has not been met. But what do we do about them?
First we need to accept that emotions are fickle, they are very unreliable. Depending very much on our circumstances, if you have just received good news or bad news, your emotions will go up or down accordingly.
Emotions change, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He loves us unconditionally regardless if we are being good or bad. Our performance will not affect His consuming love for us.
It would be good if we could take some time to retreat and to be on our own with God for a while, quietly, to take stock of our feelings and our emotions. God is our Counsellor and our Comforter and He is very close to the broken hearted.
We need to remind ourselves that God loves us, and that He promised to be with us because He promised never to leave us and not to forsake us. We can’t hide from God! Whatever we go through God is there with us in the middle of the situation and He feels our pain just as much as we do. And when you think nobody cares and nobody understands, … God, the Creator of the Universe who lives in your heart cares, and He does understand, He is with you and He is collecting all your tears in a bottle.
God does not judge us, He accepts us where we are at, on the way to where we are going. Fear is at the root of many negative emotions, and fear can also cause stress. Faith in our Loving Faithful God is the antidote to fear. Faith leads to trust and Hope in Him to do what is best for us in us that we cannot do for ourselves.
We can admit our emotions to God, we can give our emotions to Him, and we can invite Him to change our heart. E.g. “Lord, I feel angry, sad, jealous, tired, envious, greedy, lazy, selfish, proud, hurting, …etc. , I don’t want to feel like that but I cannot change it Lord, please change my heart” and He is faithful to do it if we ask.
We can then cast all of our cares on Him for He cares for us affectionately and watchfully and we can trust Him that He will use all our situations for good.
Whatever the Devil steals from you, God wants to bless you doubly with.
The source of our security has to come from the knowledge that He loves us unconditionally, and that He is faithful to see us through by His grace. God never breaks His promises to us.
I pray that when you become emotional, you would have the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to lead you to spend some quiet time with God, to come to understand that it is OK, God loves you, He is right there with you right now, He hears your cry out to Him. I pray that you would trust Him to comfort you and to provide for your every need.
I pray that you would come to experience His ‘Shalom’ peace (wholeness, health, healing, soul prosperity, perfection) in the middle of the storm by keeping your eyes on Jesus instead of your circumstances, and that He will carry you through.
- What is the purpose of our emotions?
- Why is it not wise to rely on our emotions?
- How should we deal with our negative emotions when they rise up?