Follow God's Wisdom, Not Your Own Feelings
For the Lord gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6Life is no fun when we let our feelings run the show. Feelings change from day to day, hour to hour, even moment to moment. They often lie to us. In short, we cannot trust our feelings. But we can choose, as Christ followers, to ignore false emotions and live by truth and wisdom. Let me give you some examples. Perhaps you have found yourself in a crowd of people and felt as though everyone was talking about you. That doesn't mean they were. Maybe you feel that nobody understands you, but that doesn't mean they don't. You may feel misunderstood, unappreciated or even mistreated, but that doesn't mean you are. These are only feelings. We need to be mature, disciplined, Holy Spirit-controlled people, determined to walk in the Spirit. It takes a constant act of the will to choose to do things God's way rather than our way. Even though we may feel occasionally bombarded by negative emotions, we cannot allow those feelings to control and spoil life. Instead, wecan choose to follow the truth-godly wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Dear God,
my feelings often go against Your wisdom and try to deceive me, but I won't let them run my life. Guide me with Your truth so that I can stay connected to You, and not be run by my constantly changing emotions.
'Jesus went...to a place called Gethsemane...'ARE YOU IN GETHSEMANE?
Matthew 26:36 NIV
The word Gethsemane means 'crushed olives.' And from crushed olives comes oil that heals, illuminates, and nourishes. We all have our Gethsemane. To understand and embrace yours, look at the night Christ spent there before going to the cross: 'Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them..."My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch [pray] with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will'' ' (vv.36-39 NIV). Notice: 1) Gethsemane is where your prayers are not answered as you'd like them to be. God understands how you feel, and He has a better plan in mind. 2) Gethsemane is where those closest to you cannot help. Like Christ's disciples, they will pray with you for a while but then grow tired and give up. At this point, you pray alone. You go on alone. 3) Gethsemane is where you feel the full weight of God's will. The Old Testament prophets spoke of 'the burden of the Word of the Lord.' Luke tells us that in Gethsemane Jesus was ' in anguish' and that 'his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground' (Luke 22:44). We used to sing in church, 'All that I have, all that I am, all I shall ever be; cannot repay the love debt I owe; I surrender to Thee!' If you're finding it easier to sing than to surrender, you're in Gethsemane!
