Thursday, May 1, 2008

What Do I Do When my Feelings Fail Me?

Feelings are funny things. People are always saying...I feel that...! Or I feel this way...! Unfortunately, feelings do not guarantee clarity in our thoughts. When we are hurting or distressed our emotions and feelings can get the best of us. Sometimes we view God through our feelings. This is particularly noticeable when we have expectations that God for whatever reason has not met. Many people find themselves discouraged during these periods and feel (there is that word again) that God has abandoned them. Or, at the very least, has let them down. There are two problems with this way of thinking. 1) God will never let you down, and 2) Your feelings, your heart is probably leading you astray.

God works on His time schedule. We want to rush Him and hurry Him along to get things done on our schedule. This is a lesson that must be learned. Even those of us who have years of experience trusting God sometimes have problems waiting on the Lord.

Jeremiah 17: 9-10

9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

These verses point the wickedness of the heart and how you can be deceived by trusting your heart. There is another point. It is interesting that the very next verse explains that the Lord tries the reins of your heart and searches it and rewards every person according to the ways and circumstances his or her work has produced.

God understands us better than we understand ourselves.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Trust the Lord when your heart is hurting.
When you are feeling lost and abandoned remember to wait on the Lord. You will regain your strength and your heart will once again be light.

Blessings

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