Who of you out there has ever allowed your emotions to
dictate what direction you should go?
Can you envision me raising my hand and nodding?
Many times I’ve allowed my emotions to dictate my reality,
leading me down a path of misery.
Too often my emotions can be my enemy.
God created women with unique and special complexities, and
one of them is our emotions.
What we do with our emotions not only affects us mentally,
spiritually and physically, but causes a ripple effect to everyone around us,
either for good or for bad.
Our emotions are an outflow from our heart and soul, which
are controlled by our thoughts. They’re so intertwined, you can’t divide or
separate them. One can’t act apart from the other and they all affect our body
and health.
The world loudly proclaims, FOLLOW YOUR HEART!
That’s fine if our heart’s throne is occupied by the One
True God, who created us and goes to unfathomable lengths to have an intimate
relationship with us.
But when we’re propped up on that throne in our heart, donning
a tiara, thinking we’re in control, and embracing secret thoughts, is when we’re
in danger of whacky emotions leading us astray.
God already knows:
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord,
know it completely. Psalm 139:2-4
(NIV)
I learned at a young age how to stuff my emotions. As an
adult I rarely showed much emotion about anything, and half the time didn’t
know how I felt.
Now that I’m older and smack in the middle of menopause, it
seems all those emotions I stuffed way back when, want to force their way out.What’s a girl to do? How can I ensure that the emotions flowing from my heart aren’t dictating a self-destructive path?
The best answer I have is this:
Return to the same place every
morning, sitting at the feet of Jesus, as I’ve been sharing over the past several
weeks, and as Sande Oliver shared last week in her beautiful depiction of Mary
of Bethany.
I never stop asking God to pour His desires in my heart and
remove those that aren’t from Him.
I do this because I know I can’t always trust my heart and
the emotions that flow from it.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts –
murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft,
false testimony, slander. Matthew 15:19
If I want to follow my heart, I must make sure, beyond any
doubt, that it’s God’s desires I’m following.
This can be difficult when you’re consumed with overwhelming
emotions. The whirlwind seems to be the controlling force. You may feel you’re
teetering on the edge of an unknown abyss and all it would take is one puff of
air to send you over. It’s at this juncture that there’s one decision to make
and only one.
Look up!
I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where
does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of
heaven and earth. Psalm 121:-2
~
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens;
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls
forth each of them by name. Because of his great
power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
And…
…trust He won’t let your foot slip. (Psalm 121:3)
When the storm calms…
When your fuzzy perspective becomes focused through God’s
lens…
When your next decision isn’t based on the ebb and flow
of your emotions…
When you know that the Lord watches over you, and is your
shade; He won’t let the sun harm you (Psalm 121:5-6)…
And you know the Lord will watch over your coming and
going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:8)…
Then you will have peace, joy and comfort as you make
your decision(s) knowing He’s leading you in the right direction.
Me too!
I invite you to share in the comments below or send a
private email via the form on the right of this page how your emotions have
gotten the best of you when facing decisions.
Until next week…
Be encouraged and stay the course.
Terri
