"Therefore humble yourselves, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7
When our emotions are raging or weeping or ecstatic we are to humble ourselves before God. That humbling is putting our emotions in the correct perspective. If we allow our emotions to be our train engine, then our reactions and decisions will be born out of the emotion of the moment, not godly truth and counsel. Emotions are not wrong. God had emotions and we are made in His image. But how we handle our emotions will separate us from the immature.
A mature Christian always lays his/her emotions before the truth of God's word and chooses to stand on that truth. My emotions were locked away for many years. Before I could allow God to have my whole heart, I had to let the walls down around my heart so that He could get to it. Then I was able to let Him heal and claim my heart. I was able to do this based on God's truth: "...He cares for you." I had read enough Scripture, had been in His presence, and had seen Him work in my life enough to know that I could trust God with my heart.
When I want to follow my emotions now, I first seek God's truth. Then, as I stand on that truth, He brings my emotions into line. Oh yeah, I can still be emotional, but my emotions are the caboose of God's truth, not the engine. This keeps them in perspective. Even if I don't feel like praising, God is still worthy of praise. As I begin to praise, my emotions come along and finally I am singing with a whole heart before my King.
Hint of the Day: Some kids need help naming and recognizing emotions. You can show them a page of cartoon faces showing different emotions and ask them to point out how they are feeling. Or you can show them the page and have them try to put the emotion with the face. We also act out emotions at an unemotional time pretending that we are mad, angry, scared, happy, excited, etc. This will make them more comfortable with their emotions and make them better writers someday! Also, don't be afraid to show raw emotion around your children. Just explain to them that that was how you were feeling, but that God's word says "..." and that is how you will choose to act in that circumstance. Ffr instance, your friend hurts you and you are angry. Be angry, but sin not. Stomp and storm and say, "I am so angry." But then let the kids see you pray for your friend, buy your friend a gift, and make up with that friend. This will give them a role model to follow when they are angry rather than stuffing the feelings or acting out the emotion.
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