A friend posted a question to me recently about handling unsteady emotions. I sat on the question for a day (which is more time than I usually take to respond to anything); and a response came to me quite suddenly after work today.
I share it with you now because I think it is one that so many people need to hear — including me. So here’s an excerpt of my thoughts on how to handle difficult emotions…
…I have periodic swings where I just feel completely emotionally off balance: feelings of unworthiness, being a failure, fear of “what ifs”, anxiousness, doubt about myself [or the Lord], or even just the weight of tedium and the overwhelming amount of work that looms ahead of me in the school year (welcome to first year teaching)…
Personally I’m a verbal processor. So when emotions get to be too big to stay inside my head, I journal them out and try to counteract them with truth (from the Bible) — especially when the emotions are rooted in lies of the enemy. I have also gotten kind of into the habit of messaging a few trusted people to pray for me at those times. Sometimes I share details of what I’m feeling, sometimes I don’t. It’s also beneficial for me to just straight up TALK. IT. OUT. with someone. Often an emotion seems huge and real inside my head; but once I get it out into words to another person, and out of the dark, it holds less power. Another person also has the ability to see my emotions more objectively than I do, and they are often able to say, “[You’re] being too hard on yourself”, or “That sounds like the enemy getting at you” etc.
I guess the bottom line is…don’t walk through it alone. Seek prayer, counsel, and someone to speak truth to you when you are struggling to admonish your own spirit. Keep bathing in the word of God. Memorizing scripture is a great tactic (one I need to put into practice more!).
“I guess the bottom line is…don’t walk through it alone.”
Therefore since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)
songs of stippled stardust 