Feelings! We all have them. What do we do with them, though? Do we let them drive how we handle situations? Our feelings are not wrong. God created us to have feelings. They are neither good nor bad. They are tools to help us learn how not to behave impulsively and act out without taking responsibility.
Let’s read Proverbs 4:23. The Hebrew word for heart is leb. It is a combination of our minds and our desires. The wisdom in this verse is to guard your heart. To pay attention and keep safeguards around what we think and feel because our lives’ direction flows from it. We must guard our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says that apart from God, our hearts are the seat of deceit. Our hearts tend to be self-centered, which can be damaging, especially when we are not centered in Christ. What is affecting your heart these days? What emotions are attached to those issues? Are there any emotions that are hard for you to control? Have you ever followed your feelings into a situation that resulted in pain, distress, or regret? What happened? Let’s see if this has happened with the Israelites. Read Numbers 9:15-17. What covered the Tabernacle? At night, what did the cloud look like? When the cloud lifted, what did the Israelites do? When the cloud settled, what did the Israelites do? God was guiding them in the day by cloud and by fire in the night. How important is it the God is guiding us? What kind of emotions do you think the people were experiencing?
The cloud and fire were there to remind the people that God was with them all the time. Now read Numbers 9:22-23. How often did the people move? How did the people behave when God gave the command to move? This is how awesome of a God we serve. Jesus even helped us see how the Holy Spirit living within us guides us and equips us to live. Read the following passage: John 16:12-14, John 14:26, John 16:7, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Galatians 5:16, Acts 1:8, and Romans 8:26-27.
Now read Galatians 5:22-24. Make a list of the fruit of the Spirit. How does the Holy Spirit help you let go and live like Jesus? How can we healthily respond to emotions rather than follow our feelings? We will need the power of God to helps deal with strong emotions.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that we will trust you enough to follow your leading. I pray that we will guard our hearts and not let our emotions lead.
In Jesus Name
Amen
