Hallmark card. A marriage proposal. The passing of a loved one. Holding a new born baby. When your favorite baseball team wins the World Series. A hang nail.
All of these items spark some sort of emotion. Emotions were created for a reason. They are a vital part of the human experience and can initiate positive outcomes. When you read through Psalms, you can understand the inner turmoil David experienced with his struggle of sin and the awe of God. Job displayed his grief by ripping his garments and placing ash on his head. John 11:35 contains two words but displays a raw emotion, “Jesus wept”. Those words provide a picture of how the Savior of the world was overcome with emotion and He expressed it. He had no shame.
Emotions communicate the state that we are currently in.
However, when we let the power of emotions overtake us we are blinded from the truth. Decisions are made. Words are stated. Actions are taken. We cannot let emotions triumph over truth.
When we realized the falsehood in our emotions, the easy thing to do is to ask for God to take them away. We think that by taking away the emotion, we are getting rid of the problem. Yet we are limiting ourselves from the medium that our emotions can be. Our prayer should not be “Lord, take this emotion away from me”, but more like what it states in Psalm 139: 23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”.
When we turn towards to Christ in our emotions, we see the truth displayed in them. As painful or joyful as they can be, we must always turn our emotions towards God’s truth and glory.