WhenTruth Says, "Don't Follow Your Feelings"
It hit me out of the blue, and I was completely blindsided. And it was strange, I mean, things were going reasonably well in my world; there were no significant, sudden changes, and yet, there it was. Emotional turmoil. I would have been seriously annoyed if I wasn’t too busy attempting to squelch anxiety so high it negated the need for an alarm clock and threatened to cross the proverbial line over into panic.
I started going through the motions of life. My peaceful study times where I devoured Scripture and dove into word studies unraveled. Now, I drug my eyes across the pages while I attempted to force my mind into submissive concentration. It was all I could do to crack open my Bible and click on a few hyperlinks found on my favorite Bible study resources. People would ask me if I heard anything from the Lord lately, and inside, I just cringed. I WISH! All I heard were my own thoughts, or so I thought—and they were LOUD!
After WEEKS of struggling, flailing, and coaxing myself forward in my life’s duties as a wife, mother, and newly-published author, I had a realization. God doesn’t tell me to obey when I feel like it. It’s easy, so so easy, to stand strong and forge ahead in obedience to His voice when my emotions are in check. But what about when they’re not? His Word, His Truth, and His call do not change. It doesn’t matter how I feel, it matters how I live.
Then I made a decision. It didn’t matter how I felt, I was going to obey. If I couldn’t forge ahead, I was going to plod forward instead, and continue to move in the direction of God’s last directive. No. Matter. What. Then came the revelation. God showed me a picture of something, snake-like, and twisted. These were those thoughts that incited the chaos and turmoil within me. They were lies, straight from the pit, that were an attempt to get me to agree with the lies so I would stop pursuing God’s Word, Truth, and call. Lies such as, Who am I anyway? and Just wait until they find out how imperfect I am.
These lies, so commonly thought by many, threaten to derail us, limit us, and prevent us from achieving our potential and fulfilling God’s call on our lives. As long as we allow them to stay, they are oh, so potent. The truth is, as a Christian, my identity is in Christ, and I am a loved child of God. Yes, I am imperfect—believe me, I make plenty of mistakes and missteps and am all-to-aware of them, but ultimately, God is a God of grace, and it is His grace that picks me up and empowers me to keep going and growing. It’s not about me at all; it’s about God in me. Paul so clearly wrote this when he said, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:9 KJV).
In and of ourselves, we are ALL imperfect. Thank God for His grace; His power and love that helps us be more than we ever could on our own! May we all continue to grow in His grace and live lives of grace toward each other. After all, how are we supposed to show others, Christians or otherwise, who God is if we fail to live in a revelation of His grace in our lives and extend grace to those around us? How about we take on a two-part challenge together?
- The next time we want to berate ourselves for a mistake, we choose instead to look to God. We can choose to focus on Him rather than on our imperfections.
- The next time we notice someone else’s flaws, we remember the incredible amount of grace God has given to us and extend it toward them. Again, choosing to focus on Him rather than someone else’s imperfections.
Lord, I pray You would give us a revelation of Your grace in our lives. I pray that we would live and grow in that revelation and share Your power and love, Your grace, with those in our lives. I pray You would show us how to live lives of grace. Amen.