By Rachel Olsen
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” John 14:1 (NLT)
Frustration hit me full force about a quarter ‘til dawn. I woke up to find my child is sick, again. With my husband away on business, it was up to me to help the young boy who was standing beside my bed coughing. He’s been sick the better part of the last 5 weeks. I thought he was finally turning the corner. I thought we were done with decongestants, germy tissues, and Clorox wipes. That is, until this morning. So the first thing I felt today was frustrated.
When my child is out of commission, it puts me out of commission as well. He is now behind on his school work, and I am now behind on about a half-dozen things. I could feel my stress level rising as I poured the cough syrup into the plastic measuring cup. I thought about the things I was supposed to accomplish today … the meetings, the deadlines, the errands. A scowl settled into my forehead. I closed the medicine cabinet door with much more force than really necessary.
I felt sorry for my pitiful son. I also felt frustrated that my prayers had not prevented this relapse in illness. I felt angry that yet another day would be interrupted by some virus. And I felt bad because I knew I wasn’t handling it well. I felt, I felt, I felt …all I was doing was feeling, letting my emotions spread out and lay claim over every aspect of my day.
I have this notion in my head that a mature Christian wouldn’t be feeling this way. Shouldn’t I be so spiritual that I’m above getting upset over things like this? After taking care of my son, I sat down and scanned the gospels to see if Jesus ever felt emotionally strained. Sure enough, I found instances where Jesus is described as feeling “deeply troubled” and “distressed” (Mark 14:33, John 13:21, John 12:27, NLT).
If Jesus got emotionally agitated, then it’s ridiculous for me to expect to go through life without feeling some stress. The problem isn’t my emotions, it’s my reaction to them. The trouble comes when I give them free reign in my heart and mind. That’s when I become unstable. That’s when I lose sight of God. That’s when I say or do things I regret.
Jesus spoke today’s verse to his disciples, knowing what their futures would hold. He knew His death was coming and it would trigger fear, sorrow and doubt in their hearts. Not wanting them to wallow in those emotions, He counseled them ahead of time to keep their focus on God and all that He’d been teaching them.
Jesus, knowing what our day holds, speaks the same words to us. He tells us to not let our emotions fly about today, creating an unstable and troubled heart. Instead, our trustworthy Lord tells us to focus our attention on Him.
I made the decision this morning to pray and place my trust in God, despite how my day was shaping up and despite how volatile my emotions felt. He calmed my anxious heart, and my son seems to be feeling better as well. It feels good to trade in my troubled emotions for a source of strength that will get me through my day. And that’s one feeling I think Jesus would love for me to wallow in.
Dear Lord, I want to be ruled by Your Spirit, not by my emotions. Help me to focus on You today and not my troubles. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know Him?
For ideas to calm your anxious heart, click here to visit Rachel’s blog.
P31 Woman magazine
God’s Purpose for Every Woman: A P31 Devotional Gen Editors, Lysa TerKeurst & Rachel Olsen
Application Steps:
Start your day by praying for God to give you the mind of Christ and emotions that are submitted to Him.
On days when you get off track, like I did today, resolve to shorten the amount of time between the emotional trigger and the moment when you release your feelings and the situation into God’s care.
Reflections:
What is getting the best of you today? Anger? Bitterness? Depression? Fear? Lust? Greed? Christ?
Am I willing to release these emotions to God and determine to not let my heart be troubled?
Power Verses:
Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NIV)
Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (KJV)
Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (NIV)
Matthew 6:33-34, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (MSG)
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” John 14:1 (NLT)
Frustration hit me full force about a quarter ‘til dawn. I woke up to find my child is sick, again. With my husband away on business, it was up to me to help the young boy who was standing beside my bed coughing. He’s been sick the better part of the last 5 weeks. I thought he was finally turning the corner. I thought we were done with decongestants, germy tissues, and Clorox wipes. That is, until this morning. So the first thing I felt today was frustrated.
When my child is out of commission, it puts me out of commission as well. He is now behind on his school work, and I am now behind on about a half-dozen things. I could feel my stress level rising as I poured the cough syrup into the plastic measuring cup. I thought about the things I was supposed to accomplish today … the meetings, the deadlines, the errands. A scowl settled into my forehead. I closed the medicine cabinet door with much more force than really necessary.
I felt sorry for my pitiful son. I also felt frustrated that my prayers had not prevented this relapse in illness. I felt angry that yet another day would be interrupted by some virus. And I felt bad because I knew I wasn’t handling it well. I felt, I felt, I felt …all I was doing was feeling, letting my emotions spread out and lay claim over every aspect of my day.
I have this notion in my head that a mature Christian wouldn’t be feeling this way. Shouldn’t I be so spiritual that I’m above getting upset over things like this? After taking care of my son, I sat down and scanned the gospels to see if Jesus ever felt emotionally strained. Sure enough, I found instances where Jesus is described as feeling “deeply troubled” and “distressed” (Mark 14:33, John 13:21, John 12:27, NLT).
If Jesus got emotionally agitated, then it’s ridiculous for me to expect to go through life without feeling some stress. The problem isn’t my emotions, it’s my reaction to them. The trouble comes when I give them free reign in my heart and mind. That’s when I become unstable. That’s when I lose sight of God. That’s when I say or do things I regret.
Jesus spoke today’s verse to his disciples, knowing what their futures would hold. He knew His death was coming and it would trigger fear, sorrow and doubt in their hearts. Not wanting them to wallow in those emotions, He counseled them ahead of time to keep their focus on God and all that He’d been teaching them.
Jesus, knowing what our day holds, speaks the same words to us. He tells us to not let our emotions fly about today, creating an unstable and troubled heart. Instead, our trustworthy Lord tells us to focus our attention on Him.
I made the decision this morning to pray and place my trust in God, despite how my day was shaping up and despite how volatile my emotions felt. He calmed my anxious heart, and my son seems to be feeling better as well. It feels good to trade in my troubled emotions for a source of strength that will get me through my day. And that’s one feeling I think Jesus would love for me to wallow in.
Dear Lord, I want to be ruled by Your Spirit, not by my emotions. Help me to focus on You today and not my troubles. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know Him?
For ideas to calm your anxious heart, click here to visit Rachel’s blog.
P31 Woman magazine
God’s Purpose for Every Woman: A P31 Devotional Gen Editors, Lysa TerKeurst & Rachel Olsen
Application Steps:
Start your day by praying for God to give you the mind of Christ and emotions that are submitted to Him.
On days when you get off track, like I did today, resolve to shorten the amount of time between the emotional trigger and the moment when you release your feelings and the situation into God’s care.
Reflections:
What is getting the best of you today? Anger? Bitterness? Depression? Fear? Lust? Greed? Christ?
Am I willing to release these emotions to God and determine to not let my heart be troubled?
Power Verses:
Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NIV)
Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (KJV)
Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (NIV)
Matthew 6:33-34, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (MSG)
4 Comments:
Thank you for today's message. I have been letting my discouragement get the better of me which turns into frustration because things seem to be going in the opposite direction of where I would like them to be.
Thank you for reminding me I need to trust in the Lord and lay my burdens at His feet and let Him do the rest. He and He alone knows what's best and God will bring it about in a way that's better than I could ever imagine.
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for today's devotional. Our emotions, or rather our reactions to our emotions is a significant cause of our failure to see God's hand in every circumstance in our lives.
As soon as I read it I headed to my blog to post my thoughts. i included a link to P31 ministries too for my visitors to read.
Your devotional today, is a timely reminder to cast our cares upon the omniscient God, our loving, heavenly Father, who works all things to the good of them that love him.
Thank you so much for your devotion! I'm going through a very rough time in my life and for the last few weeks I have allowed my feelings of sorry and dispair rule me. Just recently have I been reminded to give it to God for only He has control. This was such another great reminder for me. I really needed it-thank you!
Thanks for todays devotional. I was sent a previous devotional about a week ago by my Bible Study Leader who knew I was struggling with my mommy days. After reading that devotion which was inspiring I wanted to know more and found todays.
Can I just say "praise the Lord and your ministry too." It spoke to me exactly where I was. The situation being slightly different but having that deep feeling of failure at times for saying or doing the wrong thing, being frustrated in my situation and my emotions having hold of me.
Thank you for freeing my mind to know my day can (and will) be different because God is with me.
Blessings to you all!
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