How are you feeling this morning? I wonder what feelings and emotions you
may be wrestling with. Are you good at expressing them? Do you push
them down and away and try not to feel them? Do you sit with them for a
time and try to understand them? Are you aware of how you are feeling or
are you trying to not feel? Like me, do you sometimes struggle with
conflicting emotions? - Fear, doubt, hope, joy, peace, anxiety, excitement,
anticipation, trust, disappointment, sadness, gratefulness, longing, restlessness
- just some of the ones I have experienced in recent weeks! Sometimes all
in a very short space of time!
If you are willing to, please take
a moment now to pause and become aware of how you are feeling right this
moment. I am aware that for some this may be uncomfortable and for
others this will be a normal practice, but can I encourage you to give it a
try? (if you’re interested here is a list of
emotions that you may experience and might help to give a word to what you are
feeling. Try not to run from the feelings but acknowledge them. Tell
the Lord exactly how you are feeling. You may think He already knows
and does not need you to tell Him! He does know, but He longs for us
to come to Him as His dear children and to tell Him. He knows we
will be scared, worried, uncertain and more at times and so we are encouraged
in His Word in 1 Peter 5:7 to “
Throw the whole of your anxiety upon Him, because He Himself cares for you.” (Weymouth
New Testament) He cares for us! He can handle our anxieties – all of
them!
Revelation 21:3-5 uses feeling
words to describe the world we are currently living in. See if you
can notice what they are:
“And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people,
and He will dwell with them. They will be His people and God Himself
will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or
pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was
seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he
said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
What did you notice? Death,
mourning, crying and pain. All of us will experience these harsh
realities, but this passage lifts our eyes to the God who is with us now by His
Spirit and to the future time where these painful emotions will be no more.
“…all those harsh realities
aren’t the end, but rather a temporary middle space. Not the place
where we are to wallow and dwell. Rather the place through which we
will have to learn to wrestle well. I need this wrestling. I
have honest feelings where I want to throw my hands up in utter frustration and
yell about the unfairness of it all. To deny my feelings any voice
is to rob me of being human. But to let my feelings be the only
voice will rob my soul of healing perspectives with which God wants to comfort
me and carry me forward. My feeling and my faith will almost
certainly come into conflict with each other. My feelings see rotten
situations as absolutely unnecessary hurt that stinks. My soul sees
it as fertiliser for a better future. Both these perspectives are
real. And they yank me in different directions with never-ending
wrestling. To wrestle well means acknowledging my feelings but
moving forward letting my faith lead the way.” (Lysa Terkeurst ‘It’s
Not Supposed to be this Way’, pg 8-9)
One day God will make everything
new! But, right now, let’s seek to wrestle well knowing that God is
with us and He is faithful and will comfort us. Not ignoring our
feelings, but putting them in their rightful place. Speak to God and
let His truth speak louder than our fears and doubts. If you are
living with family or a flatmate can I encourage you to also share together how
you are feeling and pray together reminding each other of God’s faithfulness to
you. If, like me, you are living by yourself, why not contact a good
friend that you can share and pray with? Let’s wrestle together,
encouraging one another, knowing that it is ok to feel these emotions, but
sometimes we need someone to walk with us and help us to navigate them in a
healthy way and to lift our eyes up to God and away from ourselves. One
day, as Revelation reminds us, God will wipe away our tears! Wrestle
well knowing God is with us in our wrestling and that He gives us hope for this
life and the next.
Song: God Knows the Way by
Don Moen
