Emotions can be difficult to deal with depending on the circumstances you’re facing and how you were taught to handle them growing up. You might be more of a “feeler” and often be overwhelmed as the waves of emotions crash over you. Or, you may be more of a “thinker” who views emotions as something that must take a back seat to logic and reasoning, which can lead to emotions being repressed or ignored completely.
Regardless of which camp you are in, God created our emotions to provide us with awareness of different areas of our lives. Let’s think of them this way: emotions are designed to operate like the indicator lights on the dashboard of your car. When the gas light comes on, you should make plans to fill up your tank soon. If you ignore it, you could end up stranded along the side of the road! When the “check engine” light turns on, you should visit a mechanic before the problem gets worse.
However, too many of us also give our emotions the job of the GPS. We let them lead and dictate our destination instead of just informing us of what needs our attention. Allowing our emotions to act as our GPS could look like a mom losing her temper with her child because she feels overwhelmed and stressed. It could look like blaming and growing resentment towards our spouse for not spending time with us, when in reality we never asked if they would set aside more time to invest in our relationship. In a work setting, this might look like crumbling at the mere mention of feedback because the guilt and shame surrounding not measuring up is too much to bear.
When we give our emotions the appropriate attention, they have a lot to teach us. However, when we repress them, ignore them, or let them run the show, we could be missing out on what they are trying to direct our attention toward.
What Our Emotions Can Teach Us
Our emotions are indicators of areas in our life that need our attention. The clearest example of this is when we hear a loud, unexpected noise. Immediately we are startled, adrenaline starts pumping through our body, and we may even feel fear. All of this is designed to bring our attention to our environment, look for physical danger, and prepare to respond to it.
We are typically able to accept and process the “positive” emotions, but often we repress and resist “negative” emotions because they are uncomfortable or we are unfamiliar with how to deal with them. However, God created our emotions, both positive and negative, to guide us and help us grow.
Let’s take a look at just a few things our emotions may be trying to teach us:
- Fear: This emotion, when not in response to physical danger, could be in indicator that we are trying to hold too much control over a specific outcome. This also may be pointing us to an area in our life where we need to put more faith and reliance on God.
- Anger: This indicates that our boundaries have been crossed or an injustice has occurred. This is an indicator to examine closely the root of what has made us angry to understand how to appropriately respond or how to protect a boundary without lashing out inappropriately.
- Disappointment: We most commonly feel this when an expectation we had has not been met. We can start by asking if this expectation was realistic and if it was clearly communicated. If you answered no to either of these, it may be time to take a closer look at how to adjust our expectations and communicate our needs.
- Shame: Shame gives us the message that “I don’t just do bad things, I am bad. I am defective. I can never get it right.” When we experience shame, this is an indication that there is still work to be done to heal and ground ourselves in the truth of who God says we are.
- Sadness: When we are sad, this could be a sign that we still have unresolved hurt, resentment, or still need to grieve what we once thought would be. It’s important to allow ourselves to feel the sadness, but this is an indicator to uncover the true underlying source.
Which of these emotions are the hardest for you to listen to? Is there one in particular that makes you feel out of control or overwhelmed? If getting to the bottom of these emotions on your own feels too difficult, we always recommend seeking out a trusted friend, coach, counselor, or therapist to help.
The Message All Emotions Are Leading Us To
When our emotions are giving us signals in life, they’re all telling us the same thing: “Talk to Jesus.”
Are you excited? Thank Him.
Are you hurting? Ask Him what areas of your life you’re carrying more than you should be or areas you need to forgive.
Feeling overwhelmed with anger? Ask Him to lead you towards forgiveness.
Do you feel empty? Ask Him to remind you of your identity.
Whatever we are feeling, we can take it to Jesus. He’s the one who designed our emotions and He created you too! He wants to be there for us, to hear when we are happy, sad, joyful, lonely, stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, delighted, and more!
As we learn to notice the signals on the dashboard, rather than let the GPS take over, our Heavenly Father invites us to bring each emotion and feeling to Him.
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