Abba,

There is a terrible tension, a tight rope, that we walk between feelings and truth.  Emotions, feelings were given to us by You, as Creator.  You are a God who experiences and knows emotion.  Joy, sorrow, anger, jealously, etc.  Yours is never tainted by sin.  It is never marred by impure motive.  Yours is never reacted to in unrighteous ways.  Yours never deceives you nor leads you to false conclusions.

I wish we could say the same. I wish I could say the same.

You gave us emotions to help us address the challenges of this life.  Emotions to warn us of danger, to delight in your presence, to reflect your image and being.  They are not inherently bad in themselves.  The WHY and HOW of our emotions become the issue.  WHY do we feel as we do?  HOW do we handle those emotions?   Motive and response.  Does TRUTH control our emotions or do our emotions control us and our idea of truth?

This is the tightrope that we walk.

Emotions are strong.  They rage and boil.  Both in good and bad ways at times.  They are a force to be reckoned with.

The flesh is also strong.  Abba, too strong.  The flesh reacts to legitimate hurts.  The flesh responds to thwarted and denied desires.  The flesh wants what it wants and when denied, emotions flair.  Life in a fallen world throws injury after injury our way.  The emotions respond.  Unbidden, uncontrolled, and untamed at times.  Those emotions are intended to expose a problem, warn of danger, and prompt us to right action in Your Spirit. 

But the flesh, oh the flesh…. 

It takes what you intended for good and seeks to distort it.  It seeks to entice us to follow our emotions more than trust the truth you have given  and revealed.  The flesh, the world, the adversary….they want us to make THE EMOTION truth and the TRUTH the lie.  It wants us to make emotion our master rather than US the master of emotion.

This is the tightrope that we walk.

Abba, protect us from allowing and permitting EMOTION to rule over us. We have only ONE LORD and KING and that is You.  Strengthen us to acknowledge the emotion and use that emotion to drive us to examine our hearts and to respond as your TRUTH and WISDOM directs us to.   May TRUTH be TRUTH and emotion a tool to lead us to TRUTH and submission to You.  May emotion be a powerful tool in our toolbox for worship, righteous living, and Christ like character in this world.  May emotion help us to grow in grace, worship in truth, and glorify you with the passion you are worthy of. 

Help us to walk the tight tension of TRUTH and EMOTION with the strength and grace of Christ.