In My Feelings

14 Aug In My Feelings

How are you feeling now that we have made it six months into the pandemic?

A lot of us went into this whole thing excited to break free from our obligations and commitments for a minute. In the beginning, we were concerned and unsure, but positive and excited about the home projects we were going to finish, the gardens we were going to plant, the time we would have for our prayers, and the missed time with our loved ones that we were going to make up for.

Only now, here we stand—six months into a global pandemic, with no end in sight.

A pandemic – that we and everyone else thought would be over by now.

So tell me, how are you feeling? Are your kids getting to you? Is the gap widening in your marriages and friendships? Is your job requiring more from you? Are you scared or tired? Or are you just tired of just being scared? This is hard, and its groundhogs day every day.  There does not appear to be an end at this point. We are just in it, all of us are in it.

The organized and the unorganized.

The crazy plant ladies and the non-crazy plant ladies.

The praying and the ‘not really’ praying.

Those who have thriving home situations or and those who have no growth at all.

But above just being in it, we are all still very much unsure and most likely depleted in some way.

Regardless of what your situation looks like, today, I am encouraging you to not completely trust your negative thoughts and bad feelings.

I know, I know! You have heard me say – feels all your feels. That is true, and I stand by that. I do want you to feel all your feels. Feelings are good. They are the things that make you say, “That’s my song!” when hearing a jam that jogs your memory. They cause goosebumps when you read a good novel or when you see a guy that you like. Our feelings are what move us to tears when we encounter the presence of the Holy Spirit.

But then there are some thoughts an feelings that are unkind and untrue. They are the ones that do not identify with who we are and who’s image we are made in or the type or purpose God wants us to fulfill.

Right now, at this juncture, we need something bigger, something more significant than every single negative thought or feeling to help us get through this.

If I were completely transparent for a moment, I’d tell you I can’t always trust my feelings. If I did, I would never be the bigger person. I definitely, would not work out. I would think that people continually think poorly of me. I would have probably quit my job by now. I would hold long, petty grudges. I would see my failures as actual failures, instead of growth. I would never call people back, and you would never see me in public.

Do you now see why I cannot always trust every thought that crosses my mind?

Do you see why, in this season – we cannot trust the feelings that are unkind and untrue to us?

Do you see why we need something bigger than our feelings? Something more significant.

If your thoughts and feelings are leading you astray like mine have – many, many times, I encourage you to:

Try your best to speak good things and practice gratitude.

This week my feelings were heavy about the complexities of possibly sending my child to school and the basics of me needing to show up for so many people and so many things. Simply put, I was ‘burnt out.’ And because I know myself, I made it a point to get up and walk and pray every morning. During my walk, I focused on gratitude, the things that were present, and good. And I had to do this – because I could not get beyond the negative thoughts that were flowing throughout my head.

It is so easy to think about what is wrong. Some studies show that human beings are biologically predisposed toward negative thinking. There is even a term for it. “Negativity Bias.” But – the good news is that God and science say that it is possible to rewire the brain, promoting positive thinking and gratitude rather than anxiety and worry.

It just takes a bit of practice.

In Genesis 12:14-15 and 17:5, God gave Abraham something physical he could look at every day and a new identity to call himself so that he could get a picture of who he was on the inside and so that he had a reminder of his purpose.

Romans 12:2 tells us that the renewing of our minds is the only way we are going to see the perfect will of God and that’s when we get to see the real transformation in our lives.

Sis, we are all human!  It is ok to have a bad day or a meltdown (just try not to cuss at folks though, k!). Make the decision not to stay there. Let it all out. Feel every feeling.  Dismiss the untrue and unkind thoughts that creep into your head. Refocus. Renew your mind and rise.

Too often, we simply do not bother to ask for the Lord’s protection, direction, and oversight of our minds. Remember, this will be one of the first places that the enemy will attack us.

What things can you do or tangibly look at, to fight those thoughts with God’s power and with Scriptural truth?