Feelings Archives » Let Love Be My Motive Studio

Last night I was overwhelmed with a deep sense of guilt. It was so heavy that my chest felt like it was caving in. The tightness began in my chest and soon my mind flooded with racing thoughts. I could barley breathe, I was crying, and to be frank with you even though what I felt in that moment seemed real. Looking back, what I was feeling was quite irrational. Anxiety is no joke. But ,anxiety is certainly NOT what God has intended for us. I eventually calmed down by sending my husband out of the room and praying to the Lord, meditating on scripture would have to say about my present circumstance. What Holy Spirit revealed this morning, however, would be another piece of the puzzle that would set me free.

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. -1 John 3:20 NLT

Holy Spirit revealed that the anxiety attack I had yesterday was rooted in guilt. It was rooted in how I was feeling. The thoughts I was having soon became overwhelming to the point of a complete breakdown. There was no reason for this guilt. That is what did not make sense to me. Why did I feel the weight of guilt when I had not done anything to feel guilty about? I was surprised when Holy Spirit revealed what was in the next verse.

Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. -1 John 3:21 NLT

As I said, there is no reason I should have felt an ounce of guilt yesterday. The feeling of guilt was sudden and soon became overwhelming. The feelings brought me to a FULL blown anxiety attack (key word here, ATTACK). Holy Spirit revealed the reason why the devil wanted to entrap us in guilt whether there is a reason for it or not. The devil does not want you or I to come with God in confidence. Our feelings should not be dictators of our life. When they are, we believe the attacks of satan rather than standing in faith against them. God has given us the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and not even the devil himself can hurt us (Luke 10:9)! The guilt I felt yesterday were to stop me from coming to God with confidence and bold requests through prayer. It was a direct attack from the spiritual realm. The enemy knows that when we come before God with unwavering faith and our expectation upon him, we can bring heaven to earth through what Holy Spirit leads us to pray.

In moments when you feel overwhelmed with emotions, remember 1 John 3:20.

God is GREATER than your feelings and HE KNOWS EVERYTHING. There is nothing that is hidden from God. He is the beginning and the end and everything in between. When your feelings start to overwhelm you, interrogate the thoughts you have been having. Do your thoughts line up with the truth of God’s Word? Are your feelings leading you closer to God or further away? Our feelings can cause us to increase in zeal spreading the good news like wildfire, help others understand they are not alone through weeping with those who weep, and even give us a deeper understanding of love. However, God designed us with feelings to bring us closer to him, not further apart. The guilt I felt was a liar and straight from hell itself. After all, even if I did do something wrong, Jesus died on the cross to say I am forgiven and justified.

Whatever you may be going through right now, understand God is with you, he hears you, and he understands the feeling you do not even understand. He desires you to be raw with him especially in times you do not understand what is going on. If I would have never asked where the guilt came from or it’s purpose, it would have not been revealed to me it was to stop me from coming boldly before God. I encourage you to be real about what you are feeling so Holy Spirit can give you his truth to hold onto.

Remember, God is greater than what you are feeling. Do not let you feelings dictate your path. God knows everything, he see’s everything, and in him all things were made. He is the perfect one to go to when you are unsure of what is going on. He not only gives you truth but his perspective. Be encouraged, even if things have been rough lately, God is your ever present help in time of trouble. Despite what things may feel hold onto what God is saying, speak what he is saying, and never forget to be real about what is really going on in that heart of yours. God will meet you there.

There is a lie from the enemy that emotions are bad and Jesus does not approve of them or used them for his glory. We have emotions because he created them. While he created them, he did not command us to be controlled by them if the earthly realm is not matching up with his promises. He actually uses our emotions for his glory and for the heavenly kingdom quite a bit. I grew up VERY emotional. So much that my emotions controlled me, rather than Holy Spirit leading me. This is not a good place to be. This is where I believe the lie derives from.

Our emotions should never be our automatic response of why we make decisions that we do. While there is a reason WHY we are feeling the things we do, we are always to take our emotions and see what God is trying to speak to us through them. There are times where we are deeply saddened and he is calling us to cast up our cares to him, intercess on behalf of others, or Holy Spirit could reveal to you that the sadness you are feeling is not of him at all. It is so important that we are diligent to line up every thought, every emotion, to the Word of God and make anything that is not of him obedient to his word. We should never be led by our emotions, we are to ALWAYS be led by the Holy Spirit. Always taking careful consideration what he is speaking in comparison to what we are feeling.

Let us stick with the emotion of sadness, because this is clearly displayed in the testimony of Lazarus. What was displayed in the earthly realm, his sister knew him as “dead”. While Jesus KNEW that Lazarus was only sleeping, he still wept with them. He actually commanded us to weep with those who weep so we can intercess on their behalf. I am sure Jesus felt a lot of emotion. He was God in flesh and his word says he was tempted and knows what we go through because he went through it too. He is not a God that cannot relate to us, he walked among us. But JESUS was not controlled by emotions, he was controlled by Holy Spirit and always walked in Faith and by what his Father had to say.

Which leads me here… We all go through trials and tribulations because the earth is not our home. Our home is in heaven! Some of us may be facing infertility, sickness, or another kind of aliment. There may be some of us who are dealing with grief, anger, or temptation. Whatever your circumstance is speaking to you through your emotions, make sure you are speaking to your circumstance about what has been promised to you through FAITH. Make sure that you always have the Word of God set higher and louder than what you are being faced with. We always need to go back to the foundation of God’s word. When we look at our circumstance and are engulfed only in our emotions, we are taking away our focus of who is seated on the heavenly throne. Instead of being engulfed in our emotions, we are to admit yes, I am having them but cast them up to the one who understand and cares. We are to focus on Jesus and his promises, not wavering in the things that are coming to pass. We do not serve a God that cannot sympathize with us, that does not care about what we are feeling. There is actually a scripture in the Psalms that says that “he keeps our tears in a bottle and recorded them in his book”. He cares about you so much that he knows every tear that has been shed. Remember, he is also JUST. God does not create anything that will not glorify him or fit into his perfect plan for humanity, this includes emotions.

Our emotions can be used to draw us closer to God and draw his people and those who are lost closer to him. There have been times where Holy Spirit moves in my heart and has compassion on those, he wants to speak to through me. I am so thankful that he uses us. It is a beautiful moment to have Holy Spirit enable you to have compassion for those who are struggling and uses this compassion to show them that the Father cares, he see’s them, and he is working. There are also times that my own emotions are used to draw myself closer to the Father. With facing “impossible” circumstances, I am able to stand in faith his promises are going to come to pass. The promise then comes to pass and I am drawn closer to him because he is faithful. Or times where I have dealt with the wounds and scars of the past, and he mends them with his words, his children speaking his words, and I truly feel his presence. I feel his love and then I use those emotions felt from that to glorify him. This is why I am so passionate. I want God to use even my emotions for his glory. Use me Abba, every part of me for your glory and purposes. While we are not to base our worship of the Father solely on emotion, he has used my emotions to draw me closer to him.

We are to not be controlled by anything other than Holy Spirit. I believe that there are emotions that the devil loves to use to try and draw us away from God. But God has not created anything, including emotions, that will not glorify and have a part in his perfect plan. We are to weep with those who weep. We are to pour out our cares unto him, being vulnerable with the only one who truly has taken a walk in our shoes and responded perfectly without sin. We are to be vulnerable with the Father so he can do what only he can do, heal, mend, and make us whole. While the devil often uses emotions to cause division and strife. God wants to use our emotions to to draw us closer to him and draw others closer to him. We are to have compassion, just as he does. Always being led by the Holy Spirit and making everything we feel obedient to God’s Holy word. Not afraid of our emotions or ignoring they are there, but admitting them and giving them to Abba and he can exchange this for his peace only found in him.