Big Girl Temper Tantrum

Have ever had a day when everything goes your way? You say the right thing, you do the right thing, and it seems like God's favor follows you wherever you go. Well, yesterday was not one of those days for me. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Don’t misunderstand, God’s protection and love are ever present in my life, but yesterday presented some testing that pushed me over the edge. I tried to remain full of faith, control myself from being offended, and hold my tongue. But the harder I tried, the faster this “Pollyanna” approach failed.

And, that’s when everything fell apart. That’s when this 39 year-old woman broke down in a full-blown temper tantrum before her Heavenly Father. It included tears and streaming mascara. It included bold statements questioning God’s plans, purposes, and path for my life and that of my family. I boldly suggested that He must have not been listening to my prayers because, if He was, I would not be having the day I was having. I even threw in extra stuff from the past just to make it more dramatic and prove my point.

Why am I sharing a very personal moment from my life with all of you? Because, as I emptied out all my frustrations, confusion, and hurt before the Lord, He was able to come in and fill me up with His perspective and peace.

You see, sometimes we hold our emotions in and walk around like everything is just fine when we really are hurting inside. We don’t want to appear faithless, and so we keep quoting scripture, we put a smile on our face, and we talk ourselves up. But sometimes, we just need to go to God and let it all out. He is not afraid of our questions, and He certainly is not mad at us for feeling helpless and confused.

I know that as a parent, I am moved with compassion for my children when they are hurt or need direction. I will do anything in my power to comfort them. I don’t like complaining or whining, but I am happy when my kids let me in on how they are feeling. And, so is God.

All throughout the Psalms, we see David and others crying out to the Lord for answers. We see them expressing their hurt and concerns openly and honestly to the Lord.

"How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" – Psalm 13:1-2

Ladies, you don’t need to have it all together. You are not expected to. Be honest and invite God into the trying situations in your life. Lean on your Heavenly Father for strength, insight, and peace, and you will not be disappointed.

"O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge." – Psalm 62:8

Stop Being So Emotional

I typically am not an emotional person. But, something happened to me last week. I felt like I was reliving my middle school days all over again. I allowed my emotions to completely take control of me. I was over-sensitive, easily offended, and a bit irritable. Just ask my husband. Ladies, I am sure that I am not alone in this. We are emotional beings, which is a good thing if used properly. It helps us to show empathy, compassion, and remorse. However, when we let our emotions take the driver seat in our lives, we head down a dangerous path. When our emotions take control, how we feel and what we perceive becomes reality to us. This reality then becomes truth, and we react and make decisions based on this “perceived” truth. This is a scary thing because our emotions often lie to us.

Let me explain. Have you ever watched a movie where you have empathized so much with the main character that you begin to feel their grief or drama, as if it is your own? You exit the movie theater feeling shaken up or stricken with sadness. For the remainder of the day, you feel depressed, and it has nothing to do with your own reality. Those are fake emotions.

On the flip side, we may have a legitimate situation that irritates us. Instead of handing it over to God, we think about it, dwell on it, and let it consume us. If we don’t deal with it properly, watch out. Anyone who comes into our path better be on high alert.

The good news is that God gives us power over our emotions. We don’t have to be a slave to them. We have authority, in the name of Jesus, to command our emotions to come into alignment with Him. Feelings of self-pity, jealousy, pride, anger, inferiority, fear and depression are not from God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. – Galatians 5:22-23

Why do we allow ourselves to repeatedly ride an emotional rollercoaster? Who wants to be a slave to how she feels? Instead, we want to be women who are led by the Spirit of truth. Listening to the Holy Spirit, and not simply reacting to our emotions, will give us clear perspective, a patient heart, and character like Christ. It’s time for us to stop being so emotional!