Feelings, Faith, and a Firm Foundation

Feelings, Faith, and a Firm Foundation

I heard a phrase on a podcast, and it stopped me... because it’s true.

Here’s what was said: "Our fears can become our idols because we put all our focus on them."

I would add emotions to that because it’s not just fear. All of our emotions can take hold of us and become something we focus on more than God.

I was once someone who let what I felt carry me. I would dive deep into some feelings more than others and let them take hold.

The ones that would grab me were fear, anxiety, and insecurity.

These had a tight grip on my attitude, my thoughts, my actions, and my words. I could hardly get away from the spiral they would bring.

The worst was when they teamed up on me.

That’s right where Satan wants us. He would rather us focus on anything other than God.

Learning how to evaluate my emotions and emotionally regulate took me so long. I was well into my 30s before I realized that I had improved but still had so much work to do.

One of the ways I allowed fear, anxiety, and insecurity to rule my life was in my relationships. Having to grow up fast, I didn’t learn emotional regulation very well. I learned how to stuff everything down and "deal with it"... but all of that comes up at some point.

For me, that happened when I went to college.

My eyes were opened to who I was and how I was perceived during that time, and about halfway through college came my first real and deep breakthrough. Man, was I thankful for that.

But that was breakthrough number one of many that were still to come.

Because remember what I said: I was well into my 30s before I began making huge strides and becoming who I should be—in Christ.

God is so patient as He teaches us how to lean into Him, grow spiritually, and heal through Him. Amen.

God sees us and knows exactly who we are. It’s through the work we put in by seeking Him, learning His character, and understanding who we are in Him that transformation truly happens.

Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

I can honestly say I’m not who I was.

Skip to today...

I am walking through some things with my kids and teaching them what I have learned so they can apply those lessons to their own lives and grow from them.

That’s what it’s all about walking with them and teaching them the best we can, with the Lord in the lead.

This world pulls at us from every direction, and if we do not have Christ as our firm foundation, we will stumble and fall. But with Him as our foundation, we may stumble, but we won’t fall.

1 Peter 5:10 say, “In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.”

We must walk through things in order to grow, and with the Lord, we will do just that.

Our emotions aren’t necessarily the enemy—we just can’t allow them to become our foundation.

When we are in tune with who God says we are and understand that He created us as emotional beings, we can stay aligned with His direction for our lives. We can experience our emotions without allowing them to control us because we begin to see them from a different perspective.

God made us as we are—His children.

And just as we want to teach our own children how to understand, grow, and make wise choices, He wants to teach us too.

Our emotions can tell us what we’re feeling, but they don’t have to tell us who we are or where we’re going.

That direction belongs to God.