“The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable, who can understand it.” Jeremiah 17:9 CSB
Brene Brown, in her video, “7 Super Tips” talks about our emotions. Our emotions come from the heart, which as it says in the verse above is more deceitful than anything else. Our feelings lie to us. For instance, when something bad happens, our emotions get first crack at trying to make sense of it. When emotions are driving, thought and behavior are in the trunk. The first thing we do is tell ourselves a story about what happened; we’re trying to make sense out of it. We lie to ourselves when we’re emotional.
Years ago I was helping a single mom regain custody of her children. She was divorced and had made some poor decisions, but had turned her life around. I went with her on one of the visits to the lawyer. I sat there as the lawyer told her she was doing all the right things: active in church, getting her finances in order, not dating anyone. He told her to keep doing what she was doing and all would go well. I will never forget what happened next. We walked out of that meeting, got in the car, the first words out of her mouth were, “I have to find a husband.” I looked at her in shock. “Did you hear what the lawyer just said to you?” I asked. She didn’t, she was so emotional, she wasn’t thinking straight. While she was emotional, her thoughts and behavior were in the trunk. She couldn’t see the reality of the situation because her emotions were getting the best of her. She felt providing a father for her children was the most important thing she could do. It was only after the wave of emotion passed that we were able to talk about it rationally. Emotions lie. Feelings lie.
If we are going to make good decisions based in reality, we have to learn not to trust our emotions. We have to find a way to put them in the trunk and get out thought and behavior. We have to stop and ask ourselves, “What is actually going on here? What am I feeling? What do I know for sure? We have to work at staying focused on the truth and not let our emotions lie to us. Thankfully, we have a God who will help us stay on track with the truth. Let’s pray and have Him do just that:
Lord, we know our heart is deceitful above all things. We know our feelings and emotions lie to us. Help us to see clearly, help us get beyond our emotions to the truth of the situation we’re dealing with today. Help us find Your truth always. (Jeremiah 17:9 CSB). In Jesus name we pray. Amen
