A Helpless Pawn of Your Emotions?

Are you wrestling with sorrow this Monday morning? Has a sense of futility crept up and tried to throw a dark shadow over you?  Are you confused by circumstances that defy explanation?  There is a phrase buried in a Psalm to which I return in such moments.  The Word says that when rest seems beyond reach, we can make a decision to speak to ourselves!   “I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart.” (Psalm 77:6, KJV)  Do you know how to speak your heart?  Our conscious mind takes charge of the tumbling swirl of thoughts that flow up from the chaos of our emotions.  We talk to Self. We become aware of what we are feeling and evaluate those feelings, bringing them into alignment with the truth. With the help of the Holy Spirit and the inspired Word we can, we must – “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)

We are not helpless pawns in the face of our emotions.  We reshape them with the truth that resides outside of us, that wraps around our experience.  I went to sleep last night and awakened this morning with this confession –  “The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? … “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.” (Psalm 27:1, 5-7, NIV)  

I am living very close to many who are in the depths of sorrow and loss.  I could refuse to enter into their sadness, but then how could I effectively love them?  I could let the grief they are experiencing pull me into a depression if I allowed my thoughts to focus only on this moment’s darkness. Instead, even as I cry, my heart crushed, my mind takes hold of what remains true!

Do not make the mistake of thinking that this means falling into refusing to acknowledge emotions. We are Christians, not Stoics! We ride the heights of joy, know the depths of sorrow, as did Jesus Himself.  Our worship is not just an intellectual recognition of God or a recitation of a creed. We worship Him with song, with tears, with dance, with silent contemplation.  Our emotions are God’s gift to us that make us fully human.

But, we commune with our heart and we do not allow it to take charge. Only a very foolish person lets his heart lead. Reshape that inner dialogue.  Meditate on a portion of Scripture. Compare your feelings with what you know to be true and move forward with faith and hope. A friend who is walking through a terrible time of trouble in his life wrote this to me recently. He is a wise man who has taken his thoughts captive with the Spirit’s help. “I’ve got nothing. I cry, a lot. I am confused. But, I still am drawn to His love for us. That has been the pinnacle of comfort for me. The Holy Spirit has truly lifted me at my weakest point even though it doesn’t make sense logically. Emotionally, I’m torn to shreds, but God is a good God. And, I am so grateful that He has revealed Himself to me as such and has kept me.”

On this Monday morning, give yourself to God. Invite the Holy Spirit to make the beauty of Christ evident in you – in your joy and your sorrow.  Here is a word from the Word for your encouragement.

“Then I realized how bitter I had become, how pained I had been by all I had seen. I was so foolish and ignorant—I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.

 Yet I still belong to you; you are holding my right hand.
You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.

 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

 But those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you.But as for me, how good it is to be near God!I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.” (Psalm 73:21-28, NLT)