Emotional Rollercoaster

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Today’s post is a guest post by my dear friend, Kayla Gulick.   I’m so glad we are learning on this journey together!  You can check out her blog at www.lessonsofmercy.wordpress.com.

Did a time come to mind when you read the title of this post?

I rode the emotional rollercoaster of life more times than I care to remember. Some emotions are unavoidable. We know that the Lord Himself created and feels numerous emotions. Anger, Compassion, Joy, Love, Sadness.

It’s not a bad thing to have emotions. It’s a bad thing to trust in your emotions, or to be controlled by your emotions.

I have a BAD habit of this. Thankfully it’s not nearly as bad as it use to be, but I still struggle in this area when certain emotions are tapped into.

What do I mean by trusting in your emotions & being controlled by your emotions? Let me elaborate a little and see if you’ve ever been there.

It’s common to hear people say “Let your heart lead you.” Or something like “Trust your feelings.”

First of all, the Bible says out of a man’s heart come evil desires. Our hearts cannot be trusted. We have to make a choice to LEAD our hearts. Not be led by them.

Trusting in our emotions and being controlled by them might look something like this:

1.) I feel hurt, so I am hurt. And I’ll choose my future actions after taking my wounds into consideration.

– What’s the danger in this? Feeling hurt does not mean you are hurt. It’s a state of mind and if our state of mind is where we put our trust, then we find justification for selfishness and “me first” thinking. When we feel hurt, does that mean we tell ourselves we’re not really hurt and go forward without wisdom for the situation? No, of course not. But wisdom to correct or avoid a situation that left us feeling hurt, is different from foolishness to believe that we were actually permanently wounded and allow ourselves to react based on a feeling.

2.) I feel lonely, so I am alone.

– If we are in Christ, we are never alone. Satan wants us to believe we’re alone. When we’re alone, we can be devoured. When we’re in Christ, nothing can defeat us. Which is why He never leaves us or forsakes us.

3.) I feel good, therefore this is good.

– This is the MOST dangerous feeling to trust. It might feel good in the short-run but leave you miserable in the long run. The most common “feel-good” mistakes are sex outside of marriage, alcohol, drugs, gossip, lust, and gambling.

4.) I feel loved, so I am loved.

– This might just be the trickiest little feeling of all. When we feel like our needs are being met and we feel loved, then we’re certain we are loved. But what happens when we feel unloved? Does that mean we aren’t loved? NO! In marriage, there are multiple times when words or actions can leave someone feeling unloved. We all make mistakes and marriage is really hard work! Just because our spouse hurts our feelings and something feels unloving, does not mean our spouse stopped loving us! A good number of divorces start from this lie!! Someone feels unloved, believes they are unloved, and then starts trusting that feeling and choosing to also be unloving back. Trusting the unloved feeling, leads you to actually act unloving and end up truly being unloved.

5.) I feel unsafe, therefore I am in danger.

– Do you know that MANY women feel unsafe just because they aren’t in control? Our sirens can start screaming and the warning signs start flashing all around not because any danger is present at all, but simply because we aren’t in control of someone or something else.

I could go through every emotion we face and show how those emotions can control us and lead us in the wrong direction, but I’m pretty sure those 5 make the point.

Selling a house brings forth the temptation to jump on that emotional rollercoaster and go for a ride. Fear, Anxiety, Excitement, Disappointment, Impatience – up and down with every showing, every week that passes, every disappointing review, every wasted walk through a house that isn’t what we’re looking for.

I’ve done this song and dance so many times in the last 6 years that this time around, I’m choosing not to do it.

Well, at least I’m going to try.

Here’s the truth.

Practical Application:

God has my future in the palm of His hand. He’s sovereign, gracious, merciful, loving and can totally be trusted to do what is best for me.

There is no joy in any home situation that should be greater than my joy in the Lord.

No showing on my property or on the ones I go to look at should have enough power over my emotions to lift me up or drop me down just because it went good or bad.

My life is full in Christ no matter how disappointing or exciting the events of the future are.

An eternal perspective will bring forth an unshakeable hope, joy and peace that can’t be stripped away and can’t be explained.