Skip to main content

Feelings...

             Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:5) 

            Following up on what I said about motivation yesterday morning, we should consider that “downcast” and “disturbed” don’t only refer to depressed or sad. They can also mean lonely, confused, overwhelmed, fearful, angry, weary, worried, – or any other emotion that gets in the way of moving forward or trusting God.

            Why did David ask his soul why it is downcast? Recently, someone mentioned the idea of the Daily Examen, which in at least one version, involves reviewing the day using five key questions/steps:

1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. ...

2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. ...

3. Pay attention to your emotions. ...

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. ...

5. Look toward tomorrow. ...

            The speaker focused on the third step, and while the Daily Examen didn’t get that name for a long time after David lived, it seems to be the sort of thing one might ask one’s soul when going through this list.

            As I listened to the speaker, I responded, “Ah no, we’re not going there.” It’s not that my emotions were particularly stormy at that moment, but I don’t remember when I was comfortable discussing or even thinking about strong emotions, especially in the present tense. Most of the time, they don’t bother me too much. Then someone says, “Let’s talk about our feelings.”

            Maybe you’re comfortable with your feelings most of the time. But there are still those times when you may not understand why something has hit you as it did. The point is, it has, and there are two things you can do. Hold on for your life, and trust that God will bring you through. You needn’t dredge up every emotion felt every day, but when something needs to be addressed, do so because He’ll walk through it with you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more