CHOOSING TO FEEL

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Emotions. Feelings. There are so many of them. Happy. Sad. Excited. Depressed. Scared. Anxious. Sorrow. Joy. The list goes on and on. Sometimes we feel more than one at a time and it's hard to sort through them. 


We need to allow ourselves to feel our emotions. Going numb or silent is not the answer. 


We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive ones. – Brene Brown

We tend to jump into being busy or simply choose to shut down our feelings because it’s too painful. Quite frankly, who wants to feel pain when we can avoid it? But is it really gone when we don’t feel it? It’s still there. Pushing it down doesn’t make it go away. Numbing our sadness, depression, grief, and anger may make us “feel better” but reality is that we are also numbing the gratitude and happiness that we could be feeling. Avoiding the pain also means that we avoid the joy that can come with facing it head-on. 

God created feelings. 

God has feelings just like we do.

John 11:33-36 

Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with 

her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 

“Where have you laid him?” he asked. 

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. 

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!


Jesus’ friend died and his sisters were sad and grieving. 

Jesus grieved and wept with them. He felt what they felt. 

Psalm 86:15 

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, 

abounding in love and faithfulness.

Compassion, (righteous) anger and love. God feels them all. 

He feels pain just like we do. If he created feelings then we should be open to them, right? God never creates anything that is bad. He creates all that is good. It’s just a matter of how we handle what he gives us. 


Our feelings are real. It’s good to feel them. I have learned to let myself feel the pain that I need to work through. Too many times it was hard but I know that pushing through and getting to where I am today is worth it. I spent (and still do) some one-on-one time with Jesus and listen to Him. He desires to speak his healing truth to me. 


Are you willing to feel things that you’ve pushed down for days, weeks or even years?

 

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