No 18

(Our Emotions)

Can we trust our emotions? God gave them to us and they are part of the human make-up. The Lord said in Genesis 1:26a “let us make man in our image, after our likeness” ; I don’t think the Lord was referring to physical appearance here, I believe He was referring to spiritual resemblance. We are like God in three ways – our intelligence, our will and our emotions; they all play a role in our relationship with Him. So what about negative emotions such as worry, guilt, passion, anger, sorrow? They are emotions just as love, happiness, joy, etc. We will look at one of these negative emotions in our study today : worry. The pressures of modern life can be staggering and coping with stress, family tragedies, and unscrupulous people is becoming more and more difficult. Unfortunately, Christians are not excluded when it comes to experiencing this crippling emotion. Experts say that worry comes from within and 90% of it comes from situations over which we have no control; the remaining 10% will, generally work itself out. Therefore, must we as Christians cave in and become victims of our fast-paced society? Absolutely not!! Here are some practical suggestions to handle worry : 1) Trust in the Lord (Psalm 43:5) 2) Don’t forget to pray (Philippians 4:6,7) 3) Live by the day (Matthew 6:34) 4) Remember God’s faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22,23) 5) Be aware of God’s presence (Hebrews 13:5,6) 6) Believe God for every need (Matthew 6:30-33). These suggestions help us to cope with worry; they worked for me. I have a poster on my wall that contains the following verse “But 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.” Isaiah 40:31. Let’s be like eagles!!