LIVING BEYOND EMOTIONS
Emotions are so enormously convincing. Mostly, they’re our first source of counsel, and extremely competent at defining our responses. They eagerly take on the roles of judge, jury and counsellor unless otherwise directed.
Did you know that there are other internal counsellors you can call on to advise you in that in-between place? Other voices who are far kinder to your future and wiser in their perspective.
At the core of who you are there is a voice that knows which way is up.
You just have to silence the emotional demands to hear it.
In Ezekiel 20 we witness God speaking to Himself and He says this,
“Then I thought better of it. I acted out of who I was not how I felt.” (Ezekiel 20:9 MSG)
If the God of Heaven and Earth needs to filter His responses, then how much more should we!
The truth is this: Who you are should take authority over how you feel. You should act out of who you are not how you feel. So how do you do that? How do you live beyond emotions? I’m glad you asked.
You need to set some non-negotiables, some pre-determined resolves, now in preparation for the emotionally charged responses that flare up in the face of challenging situations. Let me give you three.
1| Decide now that there is no turning back – ever!
Ruth was a character in the Old Testament who had every nerve tried. She lost her husband, was left stranded in a foreign country, and caring for her aging and also widowed mother-in-law. They had no money, no prospects, no security. When Naomi told her two daughter’s-in-law to go back to their homelands and their families of origin in the face of their extreme misfortune, one daughter-in-law was quick to heed the advice, but Ruth on the other hand voiced this incredible resolve,
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. (Ruth 1: 16-18)
Ruth decided that forward was the only direction she would pursue.
Home is extremely luring in times of hardship. Old patterns, old ways, friends, it’s all so tempting. It’s comfortable, familiar, predictable, secure; but it’s also mediocre and complacent. You won’t grow into your old shoes, they don’t fit you anymore.
And while it is true that what lies ahead is hard work, risky, obscure, and possibly even isolated for a while, it’s still the only way forward.
I remember grieving in the midst of a transition, the loss of comfort and security. I remember the fear of willingly and knowingly allowing a season of instability for my children. I remember the wrestle: do I press forward into uncharted territory for the hope of seeing God’s plan, or do I stay where it’s safe and already blessed?
I remember my husband piercing my resistance with one pointed question,
“Which one requires faith?”
And that was it. Forward only. There was no turning back.
How do you live beyond emotions when they are begging you to compromise, settle, and shrink back? Decide to push forward – headlong into God’s right plan. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it!
Here’s another resolve that will help you through your emotions:
2| choose the right company
Ruth’s family were not a part of the people of Israel, they worshipped false idols and practiced all sorts of obscene craft. To go back to her family would mean straying from God and His ways. Naomi was the only connection Ruth had to the one true God. Ruth chose the right company in the midst of hardship.
There is an old adage that says,
“There is something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty.”
It’s so true! Ruth’s mother-in-law may not have been able to give her any impressive prospects, but she was the right company for this young widow to be connected to. Ruth had made a vow to Naomi’s family. Her adopted mother-in-law, although poor in many ways was rich in the promise of God. She was the right company.
We need to choose friends who are pointing us towards the things of God. They don’t just pay lip service to God; they’re actually bearing the fruit of being in genuine communion with him. Do you want to know what that looks like? Great! I’m glad you’re asking so many questions today.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5: 22-23)
Anyone who lives a life full of those characteristics is a going to make a friend to you. Really have a look at that list. It’s beautiful! I want friends like that. I want to be a friend like that! Together we’d be unstoppable in pursuit of God.
If you want to live beyond emotions, make sure you have the right company speaking into your life and situations. Choose wise Godly counsel. It is so vital to your future. After all, you become just like who you hang around.
Finally, if you’re going to live from who you are and not how you feel, you need to choose in every circumstance to be fully vested in that season.
3| MAKE THE MOST OF NOW
Be fully committed to right now
Be all-in
Give your whole self to it
Draw from it everything it has to offer
Do your best work now
Live your best life now
Be diligent in every setting
Plumb the depths of your season.
It has something for you to learn in the midst of it.
Don’t miss out because you’re waiting for something better. Be your best NOW! It may look unglamorous, because the tests usually are, but there’s greatness on the other side. Trust me!! I’ve seen it too often. People who hold off, hang back, withhold – because it’s not what they had in mind. Some one else steps in, fills that void, does what everyone else is avoiding and soars into a future unbelievable.
Ruth and Naomi found themselves on the verge of starvation. Ruth asked her mother-in-law if she would release her to gather left-over grain from the fields in nearby farms to possibly help them make a way of survival. And that she did. So unglamorous, so humiliating, so detestable. But she was committed to her season. Committed to making the most of it. Committed to being a super-human-diligent-humble-little-dynamite! Her ethic caught the attention of a wealthy farm owner and the rest is a Disney screenplay. Ruth and Naomi never had to want again.
In her heartbreak, in her torturous waiting place, Ruth made some of the gutsiest resolves I think I could imagine. She acted out of who she knew she was, not how she felt. She lived beyond her emotions. She tapped into the truth of the Spirit alive on the inside of herself. She silenced what would most certainly have been some potentially debilitating emotions. And she came through beautifully.
I encourage you today – act of out who you are and not how you feel.
Who you are is powerful, purposed and victorious.
Set yourself up to win by living according to your resolves not your emotions.
Today may be hard, but tomorrow is yours for the taking.
You choose!
