Isaiah 26:3, New Living Translation

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

It was a little over a year ago that I was invited to speak at a church one Sunday. Leading up to that Sunday I felt the Lord placed a message in my heart which talked about the difference between facts and feelings, and emotions and truth. Behind virtually every human behavior, when operating in the flesh, you will find the root motivation being a desire to either experience or avoid an emotion, a feeling. And at the center of all that desire to experience or avoid emotion is one thing…. ourselves.

When we put ourselves at the center of the universe and we seek to satisfy our flesh, that is to put our emotional needs and feelings above everything else, and everyone else, we will find ourselves in difficult situations which will bring on heavy consequences. And this pursuit of emotional satisfaction is one of the central focuses of our present society and culture. In fact, the statements of “Follow your heart” “trust your feelings” are a rallying cry in our culture and society today.

Over the past week or so, I have been having the feeling that there are areas of my life with are out of control. There are multiple areas of right now which when viewed through the lens of the flesh could been seen as being unstable and even out of control. It has been very easy to sense the emotions involved and begin to allow those emotions and feelings to have influence over my thoughts and my actions. I have found myself in deep thought and unengaged with the things that are going on around me. I have been allowing my feelings to have more authority in my life than they should have.

Yesterday, my wife and I were watching a sermon by a pastor who we follow on YouTube and he spoke about how we should not be seeking to connect with our feelings and allow them to rule our lives, but instead we should be seeking to connect with Christ and allow Him to rule our lives. Last night as my wife and I were having our quite time together and preparing to read the Word, I expressed how I had been feeling. She reminded me once again what I already knew and today I want to do the same for you.

If you are reading this and feeling like things in your life are out of control and uncertain remember that God said He has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you. He also said that He will keep your mind in perfect peace when you remain focused upon Him. So do not allow the situations and the circumstances that you are experiencing to take your focus away from Him. Instead think of Him, think of His Word, and seek His Spirit in your life. May you be blessed today!