Understanding Negaitve Emotions - Part 2

 

One reason that addictions are so prevalent in our society is that people are attempting to anesthetize their pain from past trauma. Until we face the pain from the past, we will never be free from it. Many fear experiencing that pain all over again and refuse to address these issues. What they fail to realize is that the pain already affects them every day of their life and causes them to react negatively to current circumstances (Psalm 25:17). They are doping instead of coping.

God is able to heal us of any trauma from our past and to free us to live a victorious future. Pilgrim’s Progress, by Paul Bunyan, is a story about a man who carries a load of baggage with him everywhere he goes. Through the story, he brings this baggage to the cross of Christ and finally lays them down. We do this same thing. We carry emotional baggage that gets heavier with each day we live. This baggage ends up controlling our reactions to life.

Satan rages war with us on the battleground of our mind. He uses our thoughts to infiltrate our soul and to influence our emotions. Then once he controls our mind and emotions, he can also control our will and our actions. This is why Paul encourages us to think only on positive thoughts (Philippians 4:8). In order to get rid of Satan’s negative influence and to think only on positive aspects, we come before the Lord in total surrender and sit quietly and listen to His voice.

Dismissing any distractions, we submit our negative thoughts to God’s microscope and use the principles in Part 1 of this series on Understanding Negative emotions to uncover their root cause. Once we uncover Satan’s lie, we can walk in God’s truth. This allows our emotional baggage to fall away. Sure, we will feel negative emotions again, but they will not be empowered by the pain of our past.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for offering us a way to discard the negative emotions of the past, so we are free to walk in Your freedom and power each day of our life. Help us to concentrate only on whatever is true, righteous, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Help us to live lives that are so full of holiness that the unsaved will see our good works and glorify You (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12). Allow Your peace to transport us through any negative circumstance we encounter (Philippians 4:7).

Thought for the Day: Christ in us is our whole life, and we mature to walk in unity with Him. - Colossians 3:4

 

 

The Journey through Depression

Read: Psalm 56:8-9

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.”

– Psalm 107:13-14

The journey through depression is often slow and frustrating. We may not even be aware of what is causing this darkness in our life. Negative conditions and emotions are signals that there are issues in our soul – our mind, will and emotions - that need correcting. It may be our attitude, unholy activities, unforgiveness toward our self or someone else, carnal goals and aspirations, filling our hectic life with too many activities or some deep hurt that is still unknowingly festering within. Journaling is an excellent way to stay in touch with our soul. If we know what we are thinking and feeling, we can more readily word our prayers and ask others for help.

God also brings His Saints to our rescue. The Bible encourages us to share one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). However, first we must be honest enough to admit to our self that we are troubled and humble enough to confess our true feelings and circumstances to another human being (James 4:10; Proverbs 29:23). Even the most detailed of plans can fail without God’s wisdom and a multitude of counseling from those who already walked this way before us (Proverbs 15:22). Therapists can help as well, because they are trained to understand the human mind and they can help us to unlock hidden doors within our soul.

In the pit of gloom, we have obstacles to overcome, but we lack energy or direction. However, even in times of depression, God will speak to us, if we will seek Him and listen for His voice (Isaiah 45:3). The Lord is good to those who wait for Him (Lamentations 3:25). His unfailing love rests upon us as we wait on Him (Psalm 33:22). By drawing near to God, He draws near to us. As we surrender our life to Him, walk away from our sin and allow Him to purify our heart, .He enables us to identify and resist Satan’s lies until clarity comes to our mind (James 4:7-8).

As we wait upon the Lord, our heart takes courage and our hope rises (Psalm 27:14, 39:7; 40:1). However, waiting is the hardest discipline for humanity today. We eat instant food. We have instantaneous access to the world through the Internet on our phone in the palm of our hand. We immediately access cash with an ATM machine. We get instant answers to all of our questions via Wikipedia, Google, and the like. We have direct help in a few moments of time for any technological issue we experience.

We are not used to waiting. We get frustrated waiting in long lines, and at red traffic lights, and in the doctor’s waiting room, and for the restaurant waitress to bring our food and for people to show up on time for an appointment with us, etc. Waiting takes patience in the face of our suffering (James 5:10). However, God uses times of waiting in our life to heal us from our losses, to renew our strength, and to prepare us for the next trial, so we can mount up with wings and soar with the eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

God is waiting too. He desires a people who will look to Him and wait on Him for His intervention. God will always hear us when we cry out to Him (Micah 7:7). Jesus, our high priest, experienced every trial and temptation that we do in our life, and He can sympathize with and relate to what we are going through at any given moment in our life (Hebrews 4:15-16). He empowers us, even when we are tired, weak and worn out. He does His perfect work in us as we wait on Him (Isaiah 40:29; Job 5:11; Philippians 1:6).

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You for Jesus as our Rock, our firm foundation in this stormy world in which we live. We look to You to put a new song in our heart, so that we can praise You in the midst of our negative circumstances (Psalm 40:3). Remind us that You work out all things, even the depressing issues in our life, for our good (Romans 8:28). Use our weaknesses to show other people that it is Your joy that upholds us and gives us our strength (Psalm 40:1-3). Thank you for Your strength as our sword and shield. Our heart trusts in You and leaps for joy, because You are our help in times of trouble (Psalm 28:7).

Thought for the Day:

God keeps track of our sorrows in His journal and stores every one of our tears in His bottle. - Psalm 56:8

Avoiding Temptation

Read: Hebrews 10:35-38

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. - 1 John 2:17 (NKJV)

I have seen a pattern in my life when it comes to sin. The more I give in to temptation, the stronger the temptation is the next time it comes. I shut out the warning of my conscience and soon I can no longer hear from God at all. My sin separates me from Him and causes my resistance against sin to diminish. I also lose my peace and joy, and God no longer experiences any pleasure in my actions.

However, when I focus on the fact that Jesus already won the victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15: 56-57), I have stronger will power to resist the temptation in the first place. The Holy Spirit is always ready to empower me to break the cycle of sin and to walk in God’s Righteousness (Philippians 2:13). He helps me to remember the promises of God and to trust Him to provide me with everything I need to live successfully. I never want to become so accustomed to sin that I consider it normal behavior.

Prayer:

Lord, give me Your eyes to judge between right and wrong, so that I never lose the joy of being in Your presence.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus walked in sinless perfection, and He abides in me.