Countless times in my law practice, I’ve heard people say that their trouble began because they were experiencing emotions. They were “feeling” sad, depressed, angry, lonely, desperate, etc. and then they….got drunk, rushed into marriage, trashed their home, engaged in road rage, hit their spouse…or made a much worse tragic life-altering decision based upon an emotional response to their circumstances. Ah my friend, we all have a tendency to act rashly based upon our emotions, but it’s NOT okay. In fact, it’s a recipe for making our entire life a train wreck. I’ve never forgotten what Dr. Kenny Francis, the associate pastor at Mission Blvd. Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, said:
“Your emotions make a great caboose, but not a great engine.”
Look, there is no doubt that emotions are a gift from God. In fact, if you study the Bible you will read plenty of examples of emotions being expressed by Jesus in the New Testament. He was both angry at sin and was sad and cried. (John 2:15-17; 11:35) But even the human part of Him—including His emotions—did not control His actions. Incarnate Jesus remained sinless because He was controlled by His Divine nature.
When we are born again, our soul and spirit possess the nature of Christ.
It is the Spirit of God and our new nature that should power our decisions. God’s Spirit should be our engineer. His Word will keep us on track. Emotions are expressions that enhance or interpret our life experiences.
But our emotions are far too unruly to drive our decisions.
Think about the most remarkable act in human history—Jesus willingly sacrificing Himself on the cross. Do you think Jesus really “felt like” dying a horrific death to save people who rejected Him?
Doubtful.
No, he had an intentional plan which had little to do with His emotional response to the plight of humanity. God’s nature is He is loving, righteous, and just—and His resolve was to satisfy the insurmountable debt of humanity for the crimes committed against His love.
The fact is, we ALL do what we want to do based upon our nature. If your nature is to be controlled by your flesh, because you are either not born again or you have not surrendered to God, then you are like a ship tossed to and fro upon the ocean. You have no anchor. You have no moral compass. Your emotions are like the unpredictable winds and your ship is constantly off course.
But if your moral compass is set to the unwavering truth of God’s Word, and if your life is anchored in Jesus who IS the way, the truth and the life—you will always find your way no matter what storms hit your ship.
The fact is, we all do what we love—even when we don’t “feel like it.”
Jesus did what He did for us because of LOVE. The deepest “love” is not merely an emotion—it is sacrifice. When your emotions are your engine—your life is a train wreck.
To stay on track, we must begin each day of our life by centering with God. There are so many days I wake up and I don’t “feel like” having my time with God. I have a million excuses. But for over a decade now—I have rarely missed a single morning of time with God. Because it’s now a habit that I desire more than I desire anything else. Remember, we do what we want. I brush my teeth every morning too. But isn’t my soul more important than my body?
Our life is so much more successful when we discipline ourselves to take care of our soul.
We must make God the conductor of our train and let our emotions follow His lead. When we do, we stay on track. We travel to greater places than we ever imagined. God has greater plans for our life than we do. When we discipline ourselves to work hard at our relationship with Him and practice yielding to Him every day—we’re like an athlete who submits to her coach.
God has more greatness planned for you than you can imagine.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength. With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:3-4, 9)
