I have been thinking a lot lately that I should get a few books to
read, for fun. I see all these intelligent
women post pictures of themselves reading in a park on a sunny day and I think,
that looks so relaxing. If you have
known me for very long then you would see how absurd this is, because I am not…
a “reader”. Not for fun anyway. I read to get information, to get guidance,
to get opinion, to get encouragement, but certainly not for fun. My mind races around to a thousand different
things that I could be doing to benefit me in the five minutes it takes to get
through the first paragraph after rereading it time after time because I really
wasn’t reading it at all. That being
said, I have been thinking about getting a book. Not just any book, but something I might
actually enjoy so that I do not feel like I wasted minutes of my life that I can
never get back. So naturally I thought
of the movies I have seen.
People always say that this or that movie “wasn’t as good as the book”. It always makes me think, “yes, but I only
wasted an hour and a half of my life instead of ten”. I know, I’m a horrible person.
One popular movie series in particular stood out to me- and no it is not
Twilight- it’s The Lord of the Rings. I
just love the part in the movie where Gandolf is standing on the bridge and
yelling to the enemy “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”.
It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. To stare certain death in the face and with
all confidence declare that it will go no further.
I haven’t read the book yet, but if I were going to read one, I would
read that one.
Where does that leave this post?
I recently spoke at a youth summer camp, to two large groups of teenage
girls. I talked to them about something
we all face at various times- per minute.
Something that has proven to tear down lives and destroy futures. This powerful thing that we all face? Our
feelings. I can’t speak for you but
when I am emotionally wound up about something I don’t always think
rationally. If I see a person of any age
be harsh with one of my sons, it’s not just Momma Bear that comes out but a
whole lot of crazy too. And while I
strongly respect and uphold the ten commandments in my daily life, I will give
no second thought to murdering any woman who even looks at my husband with a
twinkle in her eye. Why? Because of feelings. Unrestrained, pure illogical, FEELINGS.
What do we do with these feelings? Are we wrong for having them? Is it ok as a Christian to be sad? Is it ok to cry? The more I think about this topic, the more I
can’t help but think- we were CREATED to have emotions. Jesus had emotions. He was ANGRY when He turned over the tables
in the temple, He was SAD when He heard of his friend’s death, He was UNCERTAIN
when He asked if there were another way in the garden. We don’t work up an emotion on our own; a
feeling is a part of a natural reaction to a situation that we are facing. So what do we do with these feelings?
In one of my posts a few months back I wrote about the sadness I was
facing as we learned that we had lost our third baby early in our
pregnancy. I referred to the scripture
Ephesians 4:26 (“be angry and sin not”) to show how we can be justified to have an
emotion but not to allow that emotion to lead us to doing something that is
against the word of God.
We can be justified in feeling offended, but choose not to gossip. We can be justified in feeling lonely, but
choose not to dive into an impure relationship.
We can be justified in feeling depressed but choose not to allow
ourselves to withdraw from life. Your
feelings, my feelings, are justified.
So what do we do with these very real, very valid feelings? We
WHAT-THE-WHAT with them (something you may have seen me post as a part of a new
trend I hope to start with Teen girls via Facebook and instagram with
WhatTheWhatWednesdays). WHAT am I
feeling? Put a name on it. The first step to any recovery is labeling
the issue. So what is it exactly that
you are feeling. It has a name. THE reason is… Understand that there are real
circumstances for why you feel the way you do.
Life is full of trials and triumphs. And if you are in the middle of it right now, I am so so sorry. I have been there too. Lift your head up and allow yourself to feel. God does not expect you to be a robot.
Talk through what happened, but then don’t
stop there! Don’t get into the circle of
only asking yourself WHAT-THE and never getting to the last WHAT. That is how we get ourselves into
trouble. Only focusing on our feelings
and what happened to us. After you have
identified WHAT you are feeling and THE reason, ask yourself WHAT does the
Bible say?
The Bible says to “guard our hearts above all else”. Remember Gandolf? He was guarding Froto so that he wouldn’t be
harmed. Gandolf is like the Word that
keeps guard over our hearts and minds. When
offense, hatred, loneliness, lust, depression or any other feeling you face
tries to lay root in your heart, Gandolf rises up and says “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”. Not this heart. Not today.
I know it hurts right now, but God is faithful and will see me through
this. If you don’t know what the Word says then you are left defenseless for an
attack. You are allowing passage for the
very enemy of your soul to tear you down piece by piece, one feeling led action
to another. No one wakes up wanting to
commit murder, adultery or suicide, they allow one thought, one feeling, to
fester too long and do something that they can never take back. Find a leader, pastor, or Godly parent to
help you search for a scripture to stand on when you are facing a giant of an
emotion, or do it the new way and google it (just make sure to use a credible
source like biblegateway.com or bible.com to prevent from wrong information).
The world says to follow your heart, but that isn’t what the bible
teaches. It is impossible to both follow
and guard something. So my friends, know
that you’re feelings are real and they happen for a reason- but they will lead
you down a path with no end. Guard
them. Above all else. With any circumstance, any feeling you face,
use WHAT THE WHAT and see just how faithful God is to see you through!
Stand your ground, look that feeling in the face and shout “YOU SHALL
NOT PASS”.
