God gave us
negative emotions in order to detect when something is wrong in our body, soul
or spirit. They are safety precautions - flashing red lights to get our
attention.
God provided
them to protect us. We can take a searching moral and emotional inventory
throughout the day to discern the sources of these negative thoughts, feelings
and behavior.
As wounded
individuals, we feel these slights and infractions on our personal space more
vividly. Another person's words and actions trigger our defensive responses,
which help us to survive.
However, we
may find our self fearing a change or a negative response from someone that is
not actually affecting our stability or security at all. It is their choice and
bypasses our life entirely.
In this
case, we pray for them, but do not attempt to control or influence their
behavior. If they ask for our advice, we are free to give it. If we are safe,
their behavior is really none of our business.
We fear the
unknown aspects of life and we even dwell on eventual negative scenarios,
fueled by our traumatized soul, in order to protect our self from the possible
inevitability of these trying or debilitating circumstances.
We may cling
to neurotic, addictive or compulsive behaviors in order to give our self a
semblance of normalcy. We attempt to avoid the pain by defending our self with
anger and other survival modes. We want to protect our self from further
wounding.
We fill the
emptiness within our soul with people, amassing worldly goods, increasing our
bank account and providing our self with security in any way we can. We escape
through addictions.
Certain
triggers in life release a rush of adrenaline into our body and cause us to
fight or flight. They hold power over our life and define our responses to people,
places and events.
Triggers
magnify our thoughts into extremes, which prevent us from clearly viewing a
situation as it is actually transpiring. We need an anchor in order to keep our
soul focused on the reality of what is going on around us.
These
anchors can be a person, a piece of jewelry, our car keys, a Bible verse that
we repeat as a mantra, something in the doctor's office that we can focus on to
keep our self grounded in reality instead of controlled by illogical fears of
the unknown.
Yet, a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only truly fulfilling anchor for
our soul. Hiding under His wings within our spirit, we find a safe refuge and a
high tower which provides peace regardless of the circumstances around us.
Prayer:
Father God,
due to negative feelings of being unworthy and unlovable, we fear our past and
do not want to embrace the future with faith in your faithfulness. Our fear
paralyzes any attempts You make to set us free indeed (John 8:36), until we
learn that Your faithfulness is stronger than all of our fears.
Thank You
for teaching us to laugh at our foibles, to take our self less seriously, to
relinquish the need for perfection,to look for the seed for a miracle in every trial and to enjoy life with the freedom of
flexibility. You fill our life with Your presence, which alleviates our
loneliness and anxiety. Your faith and courage within us give us the ability to
face our woundedness, to heal and to walk in the freedom of Christ in us.
Thought for
the Day:
There is no
need to judge our self for our negative emotions and attitudes, because we
developed them to ensure our survival; but now we can align our self with God's
Word and enjoy the freedom of His presence and Spirit within us.
