Wish to discover ways to really feel your emotions in a manner that honors the Lord? Comply with these 6 steps to course of your feelings with God.
I began studying the way to course of my feelings in a productive manner after doing all of it fallacious for a few years.
My feelings used to come back over me like a wave in a storm, jerking me off of my toes and throwing me round with none strong footing.
In my anger, I’d typically say one thing I’d remorse (normally to the folks I liked most).
In my loneliness and insecurity, I’d typically do one thing out of desperation (Fb made this fashion too simple to do!).
In my overwhelm, I’d typically make drastic choices that didn’t assist the scenario in any respect.
Meals was once my chosen response to the troublesome emotions in my life – I used to be a massive emotional eater.
- When my emotions have been harm, I ate.
- After I was lonely, I ate.
- After I was bored, I ate.
Identical to I used to really feel like I used to be managed by my meals cravings, I additionally felt like I used to be on the mercy of my feelings.
For a very long time, I believed the reply was to only shut my feelings down.
I used to be an excessive amount of, so I simply wanted to cease feeling these massive issues.
It turned out, that wasn’t the reply to information me to a more healthy place, both.
Throughout my 100-pound weight reduction journey, sure, I needed to study more healthy bodily habits like exercising and consuming extra greens, however I additionally needed to discover ways to navigate my feelings in a more healthy manner – a manner that acknowledges and validates them whereas nonetheless preserving Jesus within the driver’s seat.
Deliberately processing my feelings helped to:
- get me unstuck from repeating the identical dangerous cycles again and again.
- transfer me ahead, rising from my errors as an alternative of spiraling into disgrace.
- give me peace, readability, and knowledge for my subsequent steps.
- perceive my reactions and responses higher, addressing the true roots and never simply the signs.
- expertise extra of God’s goodness, faithfulness, Fact, and compassion.
The steps beneath aren’t laborious and quick guidelines. They don’t seem to be the “proper” strategy to do it or the one manner.
They’re simply the steps I’ve practiced for years now which have helped me perceive my feelings higher, acknowledge them extra simply, reply extra compassionately, and hold God on the middle of all of it.
They contain a mixture of my coaching as a Christian life and well being coach, in addition to instruments I’ve realized from counselors, authors, and buddies over time.
For me, journaling was an extremely vital device to assist me stroll via the steps beneath, in addition to speaking via them with a few very shut buddies (that’s why I designed journal pages to stroll via these steps, too).
It’s simple to skim over the phrases beneath and really feel such as you’ve checked it off your record (or at the least it’s for me!), however I extremely suggest you’re taking your time and actually do every step totally. The extra you pour into it, the extra you’re going to get out of it.
Steps To Processing Your Feelings With God
1 – Put it into phrases.
It’s so vital to place phrases to your emotions.
With out slowing right down to truly describe them and pinpoint what precisely we’re feeling, it’s simple to only get sucked right into a black hole-type vortex of overwhelm, confusion, and hopelessness.
Emotions can get actually tousled (which is sensible…we not often solely really feel one factor at a time!), however after we take the time to establish them, it creates an amazing beginning place so that you can course of them extra successfully so you possibly can transfer on to the subsequent steps and transfer ahead as an alternative of simply spinning, caught in the identical psychological cycle.
In the event you’re undecided the place to even begin in naming your emotions, a emotions wheel could be actually useful for this step!
2 – Search for patterns.
Now that what you’re feeling, you possibly can take a second to attempt to establish why you’re feeling that manner.
So most of the greatest, most intense emotions in our lives are recurring.
Possibly they began manner again in your childhood and have been strengthened with each related scenario since then (like should you have been bullied as a child about your weight and felt like your weight decided your price via your teen years and into maturity, feeling “lower than” others with each pound).
Or perhaps there are particular conditions that usually result in the buildup of that very same emotion (like if you’re discovering your self feeling uncontrolled after your work days since you by no means really feel such as you get sufficient executed).
Likelihood is, you might need a typical, widespread response to those feelings after they floor that you could be by no means have recognized earlier than.
Recognizing these hidden and apparent patterns can provide you actually useful info to get you transferring ahead.
3 – Verify in in your bodily well being
The items of ourselves all affect one another – our bodily, religious, psychological, and emotional well being.
It’s vital to concentrate to every facet, recognizing the affect they’re having on one another.
In the event you haven’t been sleeping effectively, that magnifies your adverse emotions (I do know sleep deprivation and insomnia effectively).
The time period “hangry” (feeling so hungry you get offended) reveals how widespread it’s for the bodily feeling of starvation to fire up feelings like anger and frustration.
Consider how rather more troublesome it’s to be calm, affected person, and joyful if you find yourself in ache or discomfort.
Have you ever seen the meme floating across the web describing Elijah telling God that he’s so mad and needs to die and God providing him a nap and a snack in return?
There’s loads of energy in recognizing and assembly our bodily wants (after we can).
The identical is true for our religious wants (spending time with the Lord, studying Scripture, stillness, and so on) and psychological wants (recognizing determination fatigue, managing your “psychological load”, and so on).
Recognizing these connections can provide you vital info to determine a greater strategy to stop, reply, or navigate that emotion sooner or later.
4 – See what Scripture says about that feeling
Now that you’ve a basic understanding of the sensible items of the scenario, it’s time to deliver the Fact of Scripture into your processing.
Our feelings are supposed to level us again to God, drawing us nearer to Him.
Scripture is filled with examples of individuals feeling massive, laborious feelings and God responding to them with care.
Constructive and adverse feelings alike could be a signpost reminding us of the goodness of God, our want for a Savior, and a future crammed with hope that this world can not provide.
As a extremely delicate one who has at all times had massive feelings, I particularly admire David’s emotional processing within the Psalms.
He begins every Psalm by feeling his feelings and expressing them in massive methods and massive emotional phrases (which is what makes them so relatable to me!).
Then, about midway via every Psalm, there’s a shift.
David brings in one in every of God’s guarantees or a reference to a previous Scripture and the whole tone of the Psalm shifts from despair, concern, and hopelessness to hope and confidence in God’s character.
I look to Scripture in processing my feelings to:
- discover examples of individuals feeling related feelings to remind myself that I’m not alone in them.
- uncover even deeper layers of God’s love and artistic methods He cares for His folks.
- see how folks responded to this emotion within the Bible in useful and dangerous methods.
- search for God’s steering in conditions the place these feelings have been current.
- root and floor myself within the stability of the Fact of God’s Phrase.
There are numerous posts on this website with Bible verses on feelings (like 30 Bible Verses On Nervousness & Worries, 37 Bible Verses About Tears and Crying, and 25 Bible Verses When You Really feel Overwhelmed) or you too can simply search the web for phrases like, “Scriptures on concern” to search out nice examples.
Bear in mind the favored Bible tales, too – David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale, Esther and the king, and so on. Learn these tales with new eyes, searching for how God responded to every individual.
Aspect be aware – despite the fact that I love topical lists of Scriptures, please keep in mind to at all times take into account the context of the verses and the Fact of the Bible as a complete. “Cherry-picking” verses could be harmful and pulling again to take a look at the context of the verse (like who it was written to initially and why) can drastically change the which means of brief verses.
5 – Acknowledge Your Ideas
It is a very, crucial step.
Typically our ideas could be useful, guiding us towards making a call or giving us additional details about a scenario in our lives.
It’s additionally vital to acknowledge when your ideas are dangerous and harmful.
Once we are scuffling with massive, troublesome feelings, we frequently get swept away by our inner voices which can be excellent at whispering lies to us.
Have you ever ever made a mistake and ended up pondering one thing like, “You’re such an fool. Why did you do this?”
That is only one instance of how the enemy assaults – with disgrace (there’s a distinction between guilt and disgrace and it’s so vital to grasp it).
The enemy loves to make use of our ideas to hurt us. When he can flip us towards ourselves, we find yourself combating his battle for him, beating ourselves up and distracting us from our God-given functions.
God’s voice brings readability, knowledge, conviction, development, and peace.
The nearer I’ve gotten to the Lord over time, the extra acquainted His voice of compassion has develop into.
In case your ideas are crammed with condemnation, disgrace, confusion, and hopelessness…that’s a superb signal that some ideas have to be taken captive and made obedient to Christ.
It’s simple to slide into pondering in “autopilot” mode. It takes intentionality to acknowledge these small lies as they sneak into your thoughts, however it’s so definitely worth the effort.
6 – Ask for the Lord’s assist in navigating that emotion
By no means underestimate the facility of prayer.
Usually, once I want God’s assist probably the most is once I neglect to ask for it.
So, that is your reminder.
As you course of troublesome feelings, ask God for His steering, knowledge, and readability in navigating this emotion.
Discover, I didn’t say to “eliminate that emotion”.
Usually, our purpose is to only cease feeling the uncomfortable factor, however so typically that emotion is making an attempt to provide us details about one thing.
Strive that emotion like a signpost as an alternative – what might it’s telling you? What might God be telling you?
Ask Him!
He could also be:
- drawing you away from a sin in your life that’s separating you from Him
- uncovering a lie you’ve gotten been believing
- exhibiting you a manner to reply to a bodily want of your physique
- …or a lot extra!
Your prayer right here doesn’t must be something fancy.
Typically, my prayers have been so simple as, “Assist me, Lord” and generally I’ve journaled pages and pages of prayers pleading for assist with sure feelings.
The vital factor is simply to speak to Him about it.
…and don’t neglect to pay attention for His reply!
Processing Your Feelings With God Printable Journal Pages
Click on the button to obtain a PDF printable of the Processing Your Feelings With God journal pages with over 17 journal prompts I take advantage of to course of my very own feelings with the Lord.
