Emotions... really? Can we trust them, I think not.

Rejoice in the Lord always... Let your gentleness be evident to all... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which trancends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus... And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:4-9

I came across this verse today, not by coincidence, but by God answering a prayer that I couldn't even pray.  In my quiet time this morning, I had to just sit and ask for intercessory prayer from the Holy Spirit because I have been so overwhelmed by my emotions lately that I can't even think straight enough to pray. Don't get me wrong, things are good, no actually, they are GREAT so this isn't about anything falling apart or anything bad happening in my life.  This is simply about emotion and how it can derail us without a moment's notice because by definition, it is subjective, which limits our ability to trust our "feelings." I will have to admit, I have been ruled by my emotions for the last several days, which have been exaggerated by exhaustion and that's all bad.  And I know I have to find a way out of this funk (which is truly based on NOTHING important and by important, I just mean real or valid...so I keep saying to myself.. "Amy, get over yourself, this is stupid...") So I found myself going back to God's Word this morning, looking for peace from the emotions that I know are not the truth, and the really neat thing is, when I sought His wisdom about this and how crazy I'm feeling, He gave me peace... peace that surpasses my own understanding, peace that shows me it's all okay, peace that shows me I'm within His will for my life, peace that shows me that even though it may not be an easy path, He will bring me through it.  Peace... isn't that a wonderful thing?

So, the lesson for today... Let's not get caught up by our emotions in the heat of the moment and let that rule our hearts.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says "We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  We are weak human beings and can take something simple and make it into a catastrophe, and lets be honest, especially as women, we can have a huge tendency to do this.  So we have to stay focused on making our thoughts obedient to the Lord. Stop reading between the lines.  Stop sabotaging things that are going well. Stop believing the lies we've been telling ourselves... you aren't good enough, you don't deserve it, you aren't lovable, you cant handle ____, whatever lie you are struggling with, give that burden to God. Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a great study called Lies Women Believe that talks about practical ways to overcome the lies we have been conditioned to believe and I'm thinking maybe it's time to do it again....  The struggle is real for so many women, and we need to know the truth of God's Word in order to overcome it.   Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God."  So when we are struggling with something, sometimes we have to just give it to Him and wait.  Waiting is hard, it's not fun, but it's worth it.  His timing is perfect and He has a plan, we just have to learn to trust Him enough to stay focused on the truth of His Word and not get caught up in an emotional moment that may have damaging consequences.  We have to be in tune with the Lord so that we can discern when our feelings aren't in line with what we know to be true,  We have to know that our feelings can deceive us and take us somewhere (quickly) that we don't even want to go.  We have to know that we have God's grace to allow us to not be controlled by our emotions.  We have to know that no matter how we feel, we can choose to take our thoughts captive and let God control our emotions, afterall, He is way better at it than we will ever be... just sayin!!!

I am so thankful that I have the Lord in my life to lean on, and He knows me better than anyone, and can fulfill my every need.  It is a huge relief to know that when something is lacking in my life, He is where I turn, He has the answers, He knows what he's doing with my life... I love knowing I don't have to be in control and that I can submit that control to Him and achieve a greater peace than I could ever know if I was doing this on my own.  I love my Lord!!!

Yeah, it's been a while...

As I sit here staring at a blank screen, I wonder who will even read what I write.  It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm not sure who my audience is anymore so I'll just write and see where that goes....

My heart is burdened for things and people that God has placed on my heart.  People that are hurting, people that are lost, people that KNOW God and claim to follow Him but trust their own feelings to lead them through decisions in life.  So I have been praying a LOT more than usual for the last couple of weeks and while some things have come to light, some things are still about as clear as mud.

I do know one thing though, when we trust Him, and his timing, we can't go wrong... but the mistake we CAN so easily make is acting on our 'feelings" and thinking that must be what He wants.  Feelings are so misleading, they are the heat of the moment, what "I" want right now, self-satisfying, it "feels" right, so it must be where God is leading me, "Right?" Umm, no... WRONG.  Jeremiah 10:23 says I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.  I wonder why we try so hard to figure things out on our own then?  God gives us discernment through prayer, he gives us direction through His Word, he leads us down a path that our "feelings" often get us very quickly off of.  I wonder how many opportunities God has given me, that I have jumped right off that path because something else "felt" like it would be fun, or right, or romantic, or exciting or just that the grass appeared to be greener on the other side?  Don't get me wrong, I don't regret the choices I've made in the past (there are some I could definitely have skipped that don't seem to have taught me anything or led me to where I am today), because I have an amazing life right where I am.  But I don't want to live outside of God's will for my life and I don't want to veer off of that path again.  Someone recently said to me "I don't want to miss the one shot at an opportunity that God has given me to be ..."  I won't finish that quote because it was pretty specific to one situation and I want to keep this pretty broad... I wonder though, how many shots we have missed because we let our feelings take over instead of listening to God?  Anything from fear of the unknown, of being hurt, of hurting someone else, of not being able to do the job well, of taking a risk that would be putting our family's stability up for grabs to truly follow God's path for us.  And I also know that God works for the good of those who love Him even when we make the wrong choices (Romans 8:28).  But I don't want to live with the best God can make out of the wrong choices anymore, I want to be in the right place at the right time so I can be exactly where he wants me to be!!

So, the question of the decade is how do we stay there, in God's Will for us, without losing sight of that and trusting our feelings and thinking that is what He wants for us?  God has shown me that to be able to truly follow Him and to be open to hearing what he has for me, I have to be content with exactly where I am in my current circumstances; "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6.  We need to know WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST ALONE, not as a mom, dad, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, son, daughter, co-worker, boss, employee, but who we are in Him alone and where He has us in life today.  We need to make time for him and be in The Word daily so that we can be prepared for each day by being filled with Him, you've heard the phrase, "You can't pour out into others, if you haven't filled your daily cup!" or "if you are running on empty, what do you have to pour from?" or something to that effect... Your day just goes smoother when you are able to pull from what He has given you for that day.  Reflect on the truth of His Word throughout the day and don't get caught up in your emotions and stray from that truth.  It's so easy to do, and we are all guilty of it!! Why settle for good when you can have God's best?  Seek his truth so you can have His best for you!!