God designed our emotions to be gauges, not guides. They’re meant to report to us, not dictate us. The pattern of our emotions gives us a reading on where our hope is because they are wired into what we believe and value — and how much. That’s why emotions like delight (Psalm 37:4), affection (Romans 12:10), fear (Luke 12:5), anger (Psalm 37:8), and joy (Psalm 5:11) are so important in the Bible. They reveal what our hearts love, trust, and fear.
But because our emotions are wired into our fallen natures as well as into our reestablished natures, Satan and sin have access to them and will use them to try and manipulate us to act faithlessly. That’s why our emotional responses to temptation can seem like imperatives rather than indicatives; that’s deceit.
I've come up with a simple process that has helped me with putting more trust in God in emotionally charged situations and think you should try it too!
1. Allow yourself to feel.
Don't move too quickly in just telling yourself truth and shutting down your emotions.
2. Grow in self-awareness. Begin to listen to your emotions and examine them.
Have you ever heard of the feelings wheel? If you haven't, it's a great tool to help sort through your emotions and fully process what you're feeling. Identify if what you're feeling is based on the past or the present, then choose what you want to do with it. It may seem a little childish, but I promise it really does help. Try it out sometime!
3. Look back in order to go forward.
Identify and fight against cultural and familial influences on your understanding of emotions. For example, reflect on things like "Do you have the tendency to to view emotions as weak because of your family?" Recognize patterns in yourself and how you interact with your emotions.
5. Talk and pray with others about your emotions.
Be patient with each other. Confess sins to one another. Allow there to be space before shutting others down with a spiritual answer. Often we know the truth, but just saying it and disregarding our feelings doesn't really help the situation unless we allow ourselves and others to feel it.
6. Take them to God and ask Him to refresh you with truth.
Grow in taking your emotions to God and allowing Him to humble you in them while showing you truth. Get to know God and what is true by reading His word. Learn to worship him no matter what emotions you're feeling and ask Him to continue to conform you to be more and more like Jesus. Read the Psalms.
The truth is, throughout the ages, God has always been near to the broken-hearted, and still is to this day. From the cloud in your storm, God is leading, protecting, and providing for you, no matter what your emotions say. So keep forging on, my dear friends. You can do this!
