Feelings are unreliable. They fluctuate based on circumstances. Feelings come and go. But truth stands regardless. Our feelings change. God and His truth never changes.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
God gave us feelings. They are good indicators for deeper issues. Emotions and feelings can help point us to the source of the problem, but emotions and feelings are not meant to rule our lives. Especially negative emotions.
I have a tendency to repress negative emotions. I don’t want to feel them, so I stuff them back in their box and pretend they are not there. I have mastered the skill of pretending I am great when I am definitely not. I have figured out how to not have to deal with my feelings whatsoever. This plan works great until those emotions and feelings start to spill out of that box and affect my state of mind at a completely random and inopportune moment.
I am learning now to feel my emotions, but not to just feel them but also to let them point to the source of my emotion which can then lead me to the truth. For example: This situation makes me sad. It makes me sad because I am doubting my worth. I am doubting my worth because I have issues with seeing myself the way God sees me. I let myself feel this and I go to Scripture. Psalm 139 comes to mind.
I feel the emotion, but I take that lie that I am believing about myself and replace it with truth. While my emotions and feelings come and go, the truth of God stands forever. When I am feeling sad, overwhelmed, fearful, hurt, betrayed, lonely, etc, I know these feelings are real, but I cannot let them dictate what I believe about myself or God. Hebrews tell us that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Let me say it one more time. He does not change based on my feelings and emotions.
Each day this week, I am going to take one of those lies I have believed and attack it with Scripture, God’s Truth. I am gonna go against even my own OCD tendencies and start with the fifth lie I highlighted in my post called 5 Lies I Believed.
Lie #5 I’m not allowed to express my hurt, questions, doubts, fears, or whys to God. I would say this lie is one of the reasons that I even started repressing my emotions. I didn’t want to disrespect or offend God with my questions. I didn’t want to be that bad little girl who disobeyed her father. This led to submitting in all situations without understanding why God wanted me to submit and the love and kindness behind it. What I’ve discovered now is that God wants to help us understand. He may not give us specifics or details, but He will give us His Word to help us.
As I mentioned in my post last week called Let’s Start With Why, I found Scriptural basis for asking God why. I also know that Joshua was scared when he took over from Moses. The words “Be strong and courageous/Don’t be afraid” are said 13 times in the story of Joshua. God already knew how Joshua was feeling how the Israelites were feeling about entering the promised land and taking on their enemies.
God already knows how we are feeling. He knows when we are hurting, worrying, and doubting. He wants to give us truth to hold onto in those times. I think that unless we admit we are in these places of doubt, fear, hurt, pain, and suffering, we will be paralyzed in them. Held captive by them. John 8:32 says, “The truth will set you free.”
I’m ready to lay this lie down and take up truth. God wants my whole heart, and since He already knows my heart and my feelings/emotions, He can handle me sharing those with Him. Let Him replace your lies with truth.
So it’s time for battle. Time to attack those lies and tell Satan he has no foothold in our lives. The enemy has to flee in Jesus’ name. Call out Scripture. This is our weapon. The Sword of the Spirit. He will fight for you.
♥︎Jenna
This blog post is a part of a series called Rediscovering God for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you want to know more about the Write31Days challenge, you can find out more at www.write31days.com.