Feelings are fickle

By Tonya King

How many times during the day do you find yourself talking about your feelings? I find myself saying “I feel” this way or that way, never thinking that maybe my feelings may not be the best indicator of what is going on in my life. Can we really trust our feelings?

I have found that, often, what I am feeling does not represent accurately the situation I am in. There are sometimes I feel anxious when there is nothing to feel anxious about. I have felt sad when my life situation called for happiness. I think I can safely say that feelings are fickle. I don’t think they can be trusted.

As people who suffer from mental illnesses, we tend to give feelings way too much power. We get up in the morning and assess how we are feeling and that colors our day. If we wake up feeling sad, then our day reflects that; if we feel angry then we stay angry all day. Can you see how this can be detrimental to our mental wellness? If we allow our feelings to dictate our lives, then we never have control over ourselves.

We need to take every feeling captive and turn them over to God. Only when God is in control can we be truly free. If we try to run our own lives, based on our feelings, without turning them over to God, we will fail. And we will fail miserably. There are so many times that I must assess and reassess how I am feeling many times during one day.

My feelings go from happy to sad to upset and every emotion in between. If I allowed those feelings to dictate how I act daily I would end up in the hospital totally destabilized. Feelings are that powerful.

But God is more powerful. I find that when I have my quiet time in the morning, I can lay all the feelings I am going to experience that day at the feet of Jesus and depend on the Holy Spirit to keep me level. I have tried to handle all that emotion by myself and by the end of the day, I’m exhausted!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t need that kind of stress in my life. So, I give it to God each and every day. I find that by doing that, I have a much smoother and a calmer day. I am not trying to say that every feeling you feel during the day is wrong, but I am saying that you need to assess your feelings and determine which are true to the situation and which are taking you down a road that ends in a lie.

The only way to do this is to look at them through the lens of the Holy Spirit’s wisdom to get an honest picture of what feelings are true.

Don’t be fooled by your feelings…they are sometimes true and sometimes they are truly fickle. Be aware!

Tonya King is a Writer, Speaker and Mental Health Coach. She is the founder of Faithful in the Midst ministries which is a ministry devoted to the healing and wholeness of mental illnesses through faith in Jesus Christ. 

In 2003, Tonya was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and has been advocating to include faith in Christ as part of treatment and wellness plans.  She has been walking with the Lord most of her life but has drawn very close since her diagnosis and truly lives her faith. 

Tonya lives in Perry, Ohio, USA with her husband of 31 years, Kevin. She has four children, two girls and two boys.  She is available for speaking and coaching engagements.

Read more about Tonya

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