Right after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva finished her history-making routine, landing the first quad in Olympic women’s figure skating, a flood of emotion broke across her face. Her 5’3″ frame melted into the ice as she caught her breath. Half-sitting on the ice, this remarkable 15 year old girl had to be thinking about how all the work, pain, and sacrifice had culminated into an epic achievement. Kamila Valieva had arrived at her destiny and—she relaxed with great joy and relief into all the emotion of this glorious moment.
It was perfect.
But would Kamila have been able to make history if her emotions had overtaken her BEFORE her routine???
Pastor Kenny Francis once 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 emotion being expressed by Jesus in the New Testament. Emotions also run rich and deep in the ways God expresses Himself in the Old Testament. But—emotion has never been the reason that anything really remarkable got done. 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.
The fact is, we ALL do what we want to do. We 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. Just ask young Kamila. Her love of figure skating drove her to work harder than we can imagine. The emotion came AFTER the work had proven itself. The emotion was the caboose.
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 don’t “feel like” having my time with God. I have a million excuses. But for 11 years now—I have not missed a single morning of time with God. Because it’s now a habit that I desire more than I desire not doing it. 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. We need to discipline ourselves to work hard at our relationship with Him and practice yielding to Him every day—just like an athlete 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
To learn more about Kimberly Faith and the mission of Faith Strong, click HERE.
Out Now – Essential Faith, Volume II. Find it on Amazon by clicking HERE.
