Our own “wisdom” is reactive. Flesh is adaptive and responds in ways that promote survival. That means sin and trauma based reactions occur without God.
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Bring judgements to the surface, THEN take them to the Lord for truth. Become aware of them.
If you can learn one thing from the vulnerable process of opening up your past and bringing your story to the light, just know—HE SEES YOU. He always has.
He is watching over you.
We are curated from the day we are born, and all failures and pains are redeemed the day we receive Jesus.
He prunes us of what is unnecessary and our past becomes our testimony. I believe that the areas each individual struggles most (pain, bondage and trauma) is the area God intends to prepare them for a specific calling.
Read MoreYou will feel trapped without true connection if you keep secrets and hide parts of you.
Vulnerability can be defined as having your guard down or being in an unprotected state which leaves one open for physical or emotional attack.
It’s like being naked. Adam and Eve first felt shame when they realized they were exposed. Babies don’t seem to care about releasing every thought and bodily fluid their body desires. Where did we lose this? It starts when the ego develops around age two—when a human has to “individuate” and decide they are no longer “one” with mommy. It is an important, God given part of development, which also allows us to realize when we cause pain to others and when we have done something wrong.
When we experience shame and guilt, we often develop a lite in our mind around certain stories which tell us that parts of us (and our story) are not acceptable. Let me just drop you a little piece of important truth: BY GOD’S GRACE WE ARE ALL WORTHY OF LOVE. There is nothing you can do to change your value, period!
“We could say that we were trained to be responsible for other people’s emotions so that we can feel loved. Believing that other’s behavior controls our feelings will keep us trapped. “- Linda Tonnesen
We all walk around in life carrying burdens, something heavy that is difficult to hold while walking through life. Examples might be finances, relationship issues, mental health or medical problems, crisis and those of our loved ones—and just an overall feeling of defeat and hopelessness.
Read MoreThink about this: How many times have we asked God for something and it was manifested to us in our relationships via the people in our lives? This is a confirmation that He has heard your ask!
Read MoreWhen we are blocked from receiving support from others, then we are blocked from receiving support from God!
Shame is the awareness of threat to separation from love. Fear of being unloveable. Shame needs acceptance or you could say, validation. Try telling yourself, “You are enough”. You are doing enough, trying enough, beautiful enough, loveable enough. Just enough. No matter what you have done. God literally says so. But why do we question it? Because Satan grabs onto relational pains we’ve endured and breathes the lies around these messages into our ears. If we don’t heal from those and replace them with truth—we will grow in our “lostness” like a snowball rolling down a mountain.
When we feel guilt, we are in the “bad” category. Its mad at self. Recognition that we have “done wrong” as opposed to shame which says, “I am not enough”…
Read MoreFear comes when there is a threat of physical or emotional danger to self or loved one. Even if there is not true threat, the body may interpret as so. Fear needs safety (emotional or physical). We can study where stress turns to fear in the Word. When it turns to impairing fear, one can find themself stuck in anxiety, rumination or avoidance. Abiding looks like catching the signal in the body and taking it immediately to the Lord. Safety is provided ultimately by Him and can be evidenced through the work of His people. How might this look in your life with the areas that you fear most?
Read MoreSad comes when we experience loss. This can stem from a physical loss from another human being (death, divorce, geographical move), loss of job/income, loss of home, etc. It can also stem from losses that are harder to pinpoint, but come when expectations aren’t met. For example, someone who has long desired to be a mother who has been unable to get pregnant may experience loss: a loss of a child they want, but cannot have.
Read MoreWhat Mad Needs: to vent (get it out) and then change.
If we keep anger pent up inside, it will eventually erupt. In addition to that, it will block us from feeling other necessary emotions. In order to be fully in touch with your full range of emotions, you must be healthily in touch with your anger. When we sit with our anger unaddressed, we will quickly become stuck. The only way to get un-stuck, is to face our anger head on.
Read MoreJoy comes when our expectations are met or exceeded. When a baby (unedited human) begins to jump up and down, her smile is contagious. Her laughter spreads like fire. The human body elicits what the soul needs. Gladness needs connection, so our body seeks for it to be shared. What is the first thing you do when you feel glad? Do you text a friend? Share the news with those in the room with you? I doubt you keep it to yourself! If you take a happy man and put him on an island alone, he will become sick with what Proverbs would call “deferred hope” — I view this as depression. When we are glad we might annoy others or feel lonely. That is a result of the feeling of joy festering without connection to get the need met. THIS is where worship looks like gratitude. We can best see this picture when David wrote his songs of sadness and joy to the lord. He sought comfort when sad and sung praise when glad.
Read MoreAs we dive deeper into our feelings, I’m leaving you with some verses that correspond to those feelings. Keep in mind, all feelings are built in prompts—none are good or bad as they were created. We are responsible for where we let them take us (thought and behavior) over which WE HAVE CHOICE. John 10 tells us Satan’s plan is to steal our freedom and devour us. We get devoured when we give power to the father of lies and his words against us.
All feelings are built in prompts—none are either good or bad. However, we are responsible for where we let them take us. We have a choice how we think and how we behave.
Read MoreTHIS BLOG IS TO SERVE AS A STUDY TOOL—AN APPENDIX OF OUR LESSONS FROM THE CURRICULUM. Biblical principles which match up with this emotional and spiritual growth ‘work’. Truth is truth. You can find it everywhere. All of it comes from God. If you choose to follow Him, this blog may help you make sense of how this work aligns with the Christian faith. If you have not made this decision to follow Him, you may still benefit from the grace giving, shame lifting perspective from which this blog is written.
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