“Well, when it rains, it pours.” I was always fond of this saying because it really seems to be true. We all seem to have those days when one thing after another goes wrong. For me, that would be today. I wrote a great blog and even a poem to go with it. However, I got distracted doing other things, and when I returned, I closed out of my Word document without thinking and lost it all. I struggled to remember the poem but couldn’t. I did, however, remember the message, and this new blog actually ties in quite nicely.
Feelings are an odd thing. Have you ever taken time to really think about what feelings and emotions are and how they work? There are so many contradictions and questions concerning feelings. “Do I hold them in? Do I let them out? Are they sinful? Is it wrong to feel this way? Am I wrong? What’s right?”
Oh my goodness, stop already! But this is unfortunately how we feel a lot of the time.
I was dwelling on the question, “Can my feelings be wrong?” the other day. The Lord has been working through this with me and showing me some interesting things. I’m asking you to really think about that question for a moment. We feel how we feel, but are you allowed to feel the way you feel? Or can it be wrong? The answer is yes, your feelings can be wrong.
God has been showing me that you are allowed to feel and have emotions rise in you, but they are not to control you. Let me give you an example. A while back, I was driving and came to a red light. I was on a busy street, trying to make a left. There was a car in front of me at the red light. The light turned green and we got the green arrow, however to my surprise, we were still sitting there. After about ten seconds, I gave a polite double honk to the car in front of me. As the green arrow glistened in the summer sun, my anger began to rise. In this case, I remembered to pray quickly, and just asked God for help. But the car was still in my way. I decided to give a single honk to hopefully get the attention of the driver. But unfortunately, the light turned to yellow. That’s when the driver seemed to realize what was going on, floored it through the red light, and proceeded to give a gesture my mother would call “The Bird”. In this scenario, I am justified by the world to pretty much do whatever I want. Feeling anger and yelling would be ok. Giving a gesture of my own in return would be completely justified. Even following and tailgating could be considered giving them what they deserve. But to my surprise, in this moment, I began to laugh. I no longer had that angry spirit but a spirit of joy and laughter. God showed me that even though my feelings (anger and frustration) were not incorrect or wrong, I was not supposed to act on them. God has been teaching me that just because you feel something doesn’t mean you have to dwell on it or act on it.
Take today, for example. I lost hours of hard work with the click of a button. The poem I was excited to share is gone and cannot be rewritten (I have a bad memory). I was really upset! But then I remembered what I was writing about and asked God to intervene.
Paul teaches us this in 2 Corinthians 10 when he says to take every thought captive and make them obedient to God. He is talking about feelings, thoughts and all of our mental battles. Too often in life we feel a certain way, and we give our seal of approval to those feelings and say things like, “Well, if I feel angry then I have to be angry” or believe things like, “I did something stupid so then I have to be stupid.” The crazy thing to me is that Paul is explaining the opposite. He teaches us that there are times to process and allow yourself to feel, however, there are times to take control of those feelings and tell yourself how you're going to feel and what you are going to do. An example of this is in Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas are put into prison and are shackled to the wall. I don’t know about you but that sounds like a perfect time to throw a Pity Party and feel angry and sad and scared. But what do they do instead?
Verse 25 tells us that about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. They chose to praise God, they chose to be joyful, and they chose to be hopeful. In that moment, they took every thought captive and forced it to the will of God. They did this in such a way that everyone around them took notice.
Please don’t think I am saying this is easy. This is something I struggle with immensely. But God is working with me to get better at it and He will help you too. With His help, you can do all things, including not being a slave to sin and our fleshly hearts. I pray this week that you are encouraged to take captive your thoughts and feelings, so that before you dwell on them or give in to them, you hold them up to the truth of God. I pray that you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you so you will know what needs some thought and prayer, and what simply needs to be thrown out. May you grow in this and continue to draw closer to God.
