What you Feel vs. What is Real
In the battle of conquering emotion, I’ve got more than one strike against me. I’m a woman. What’s more, I’m an Italian woman. Beyond that, I’m an Italian woman from a long line of emotional, Italian women. Yes, emotions are no stranger to me. I feel things that probably aren’t logical, and I feel them at times that often seem to have no apparent connection to the emotion I’m currently feeling. Emotions are scary, because they have a life of their own, and they don’t need a rhyme or reason to settle upon you when they do.
Let me make this clear: there is nothing wrong with being emotional or feeling things. God created us to feel certain things, and our ability to laugh and cry and empathize and show compassion is what sets us apart from all of God’s other creations (Genesis 1:27). What is wrong, however, is when we give emotion a far higher rank in our chain of reality than it is intended to have. When we start to allow what we feel to tell us what is real, we’re in trouble.
I used to not realize that I had a choice in letting emotion control my life or dictate my mood. Here’s the good news – I was wrong! As soon as I begin to “feel” something, there’s a moment where I can choose to either feed that feeling, or starve it and reconcile it with the ultimate truth. What is the Ultimate Truth? God, His Word, and what He says about my life. If what I’m feeling seems to be in opposition to any of those Truths, then I can rest and know that while it may feel real, it doesn’t have to be my reality.
What are you feeling today? Are you angry? Depressed? Fearful? Anxious? Insecure? Have you looked at your feelings in light of what God says about your life today? If there seems to be a great divide and disparage in those two trends of thought, then there’s something you can do to fix it. Base your life and your security in the absolute truth of God’s Word. Emotions will come and go, but if you make it so that life is only as good as your next emotional high, prepare yourself for a lifetime-long roller coaster ride.
Realize today that you don’t have to go up and down with the whim of feeling. Plant your feet firmly on the soil of God’s Word, and fill your heart and mind with His Truth. You’ll find that life seems a lot less bumpy when you decide to let His voice be the loudest in your ears, and to starve off the things that have been holding you back. Make a new reality for yourself today. Remember that not everything you feel is real.
