I’m a girl who knows what it’s like to be led around by my feelings. Prior to getting married, I came to grips with the fact that I struggled (hard) with anxiety and had for all of my life. I pursued therapy, talked with friends, and started processing the sorts of things that lead to fear dominating my life. It was the beginning of my healing journey, and it has been a transformative experience. However, for a long while, I went through a pattern where I would make significant progress. I could cope with the anxiety. I was learning the skills to navigate it and to center myself in the truth. Suddenly, out of nowhere I would hit a day where my anxiety seemed uncontrollable. Some of those days I felt depressed. Some days I cried with little provocation. Some I felt extremely irritated. At these times, nothing seemed to help, and I would feel ashamed of myself for allowing my emotions to take control once more. Eventually, I started to track these moments and for the first time, I realized that these emotional breakdowns occurred in a familiar pattern every month. I realized that a physical women’s issue was having emotional repercussions for my life. My hormones were taking me for a ride.
That one simple revelation helped me to achieve breakthrough. I still dealt with those emotions, and I still hit rough days, but I had identified the root of it. I could label it. I knew what “it” was, and no longer did I see “it” as something that defined me. I knew it would eventually pass. When I realized what was going on, I didn’t think of it as that big of a deal. I didn’t invest as much energy or attention worrying about it. I started giving myself extra grace.
These experiences helped me to discover the power of affirmations in a renewed way. I was aware of the fact that my feelings lied to be BIG TIME. And I started learning to call out the lies and to speak truth over myself. I learned to keep moving forward in spite of my feelings, because despite the fact that everything could feel so wrong and my mind could be firing off telling me all the things I should be worried about, I finally knew within my heart that in a day or two I would feel better. And I learned to find rest in that truth.
We don’t all struggle with the types of issues I have had to deal with in my life, but we all know what it’s like to let our feelings be in the driver’s seat of our life. Don’t let your feelings dictate your day. You tell your feelings what kind of day you choose to have. Call out and expose any lie from the enemy that would try to make you think you’re less than or not good enough. Declare God’s promises and truth over your life. Don’t allow your feelings to hold you hostage. Allow the truth of what God says about you to release you into the freedom to enjoy your life.
Who the Son sets free is free indeed. -John 8:36
