I have had one of those days today that kind of came and went without a lot going on, or so it seemed with little purpose. That coming from me sounds odd because I am all about things having purpose- to say the least, I can really get on a soap box about everything having a purpose! But today..... well, I just didn't feel it. Call it the "blahs" or maybe boredom... you might even call it apathetic. OK- Whoa, let me not get too carried away.. but I am sure there are those that are reading this that have felt or feel this way.
Feelings are so tricky. They take us to new heights of feeling great about the good things going on in our lives, but then when something disrupts that, or when something bad happens- we plummet emotionally and put ourselves and others who love and care for us through worry and stress. Why? This is mostly because we aren't in control of our emotions or know how to control our thoughts.
Our thoughts dictate our actions. Whatever we think, we will eventually do. If we think we are going to fail at something, more than likely, we will. This is why it is so important as followers of Christ to remind ourselves that we are to have the "mind of Christ". As Paul wrote "to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. " (2 Corinthians 10:5b) Upon having this attitude and mindset, our feelings and emotions will not rule over us. I have heard so many people say to me "I just feel like God is so far away" or "I'm not happy, therefore I wonder if I am truly saved ?" We allow our emotions to dictate the "truth" in our lives. But guess what? Our emotions lie....
Faith is not an emotion- it is something you either have or you don't. Salvation is also not a feeling or emotion. You either have it or you don't. How do you know if you have either?
You know by what you know to be true.
Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Now, that being the case, you either have Faith that Jesus was who He said He was, or not. The same is true for salvation- in believing in Jesus as Lord, confessing and repenting of our sins, the gift of salvation is free for anyone to receive it. It doesn't depend on how holy or unholy we feel on any given day. Nor does it dictate our happiness or unhappiness. THAT is up to us on how we chose to live our lives AND what we choose to set our thoughts and minds on!
Now.... back to purpose. Just because I didn't feel that there was not much purpose today, doesn't mean that it's so. Or that God won't use today for His purpose. It simply means that today I let my feelings steal some of the joy that I could have had. That is, had I been in control of my thoughts and mindset. Instead, I let the Father of Lies fool me into thinking today was a wasted day. How did I finally come to know that it wasn't? The conviction of the Holy Spirit that lives in me. By examining myself and giving myself a reality check, I had felt I had fallen into a hole that I thought was as big as the Grand Canyon, but in actuality, I had only stepped off the curb.
Satan can make us feel like we are in a deep hole, overwhelmed and ill-equipped for things that we are facing everyday- but he lies. It is what he does best.
Every day has purpose..... every.... day, regardless if we see what the purpose is with our eyes, or feel with our emotions. So you see, in all fairness to God, we really shouldn't struggle with purpose at all. It really isn't for us to understand what actions or words we use that may be used for His purpose, as long as those words and actions reflect love, mercy, and grace to all. Don't take that too far to the left and think that I mean that we should not "care" or help in planning things to fulfill God's purpose. What I mean is that we shouldn't spend so much time worrying, and more time praying for God to prepare our hearts and minds so that we can be used as the opportunities arise.
Don't let how you feel "cloud" the vision God has for you to fulfill His purpose of spreading the "good news" of Jesus and His unfailing love. Satan comes to us to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
Dear Lord, please show us when our feelings start to rule our circumstances, and remind us that You are in control of it all. Help us to control our thoughts that puts our actions into motion, so that the things we think are set on things above and not on things of this world. Give us a renewed spirit to reach out to your children in love no matter their response back to us. Thank you for your loving kindness that you show us daily in even the smallest of things. Rain down on us bold living, but also humbleness to exalt others before ourselves. Be thou our vision. Amen.
