.png)
There is a subtle tactic that the enemy uses against humanity that has been his main weapon of choice since the garden of Eden. Like all things it is something that God created as a gift for good purpose. It is the emotions that are hardwired into every human. We often deal with our emotions very poorly because we give them a power over us that they were never intended to carry. It is we who are supposed to control our emotions not the other way around. The blessings that God intended to come through emotions are things like the feeling of love for another, compassion, desire, etc. These are all things that God intended to bless man. However it was His intention that we would govern these with the Word.
The enemy cannot create and so he has to use that which is already made and try to pervert it toward his desires; which means to our destruction. This attack is not only done one on one with us and individuals but through out society as well. All of us are familiar with emotional struggle personally but we don't always connect the dots to the bigger whole of society and how emotions play into the challenges we face as a church, a nation, or a people.
Emotions can drive us to many forms of bondage both individually and as a nation if we do not keep them in the balance that God ordained them to be. Emotions can cause anxiety, depression, health issues, lack of sleep, etc. They can cause us to make rash decisions in our relationships, or to break off relationships based on emotionally driven assumptions and expectations. Sadly, emotions while meant to be one of our greatest strengths have become our most aggressive enemies. How many times have you been at a meeting at church or having run into someone in the grocery store, or a family gathering and end up having a downcast heart full of emotions because of what you thought a person said, meant or what you inferred their body language meant. I can say with confidence that we have all had this experience on a regular basis, probably even daily. Because Satan is active in trying to destroy humans attacking through our emotions is the main expense of his time and therefore it is a constant battle for us. It is also one of the most effective attacks because we often he simply starts the emotional ball rolling and we take it and run.
First, I want to remind us that emotions aren't bad, they are designed by God. It is merely the power we give them and the actions we take that can create these bad experiences and can entrap us in the snares of the enemy. So how do we battle the enemy's attempts to meddle in our emotions? We study the Word! We place more weight in the Word of God than we do in how we feel, how we think and our own understanding. There is a reason that the Word of God is referred to as a double edged sword. It is a weapon of warfare that we are called to be well trained in using. I want to take a brief second to say that I share the word warfare with some caution. I have seen, heard and experienced a great many messages on warfare and sadly as a church I think we quite often get this wrong. Let me give me a brief glimpse to my Scriptural understanding of warfare. I don't believe that we need to march into the field of battle and hope that we win. I believe that Jesus completed all things at the cross and HE has already won. Our role is to know God, to understand who He is and who He says that we are. Our job is to hold the land that He has already given us. We do this by knowing the authority that Jesus gave us and by enforcing it. We speak and decree His Word into the earth, we pray from a place grounded in Scripture until we see things align with the Word of God and we do not yield.
I am wired to be a fairly logic based person. One of my friends says that I have a brain like a computer. I always kinda chuckle when she says that but honestly it is pretty accurate. I think in a linear fashion; meaning that I look for step one which will lead me to step two and so on. I tackle problems by making them orderly. Sounds great right? Now apply that to the human heart and emotions and it seems that all that logic and planning go right out the window. The truth is there is a middle ground. Sometimes we feel an emotion and we say things like "Well, I can't help it that is just how I feel". We give that emotion a place of authority, we allow it to have rule over our life. We need to learn how to take that emotion and place it under the only authority that is to be over our life, the authority of Jesus.
We take the emotions we feel and stack it against Scripture and then stand in the truth of His word. For example, we may feel afraid but we know that according to Scripture that God has not given us a spirit of fear. We may feel overwhelmed or confused but we know that that same passage tells us that we have a sound mind. Further verses tell us that He gives us peace that passes all understanding. These are not just words on a page they are edicts that we need to decree over our lives, to reign in emotions and to walk in the freedom that He has given us.
Let's learn to use our weapon and wield it with His power! When we do we will walk in freedom ourselves and we will extend that freedom to others!