Truth Over Feelings.

Each morning when we wake up, we are given this beautiful and equally dangerous choice. Will we leave the fate of our day in the hands of our feelings or the truth? For some, the decision is easy. Truth. But for others, and by others I mean me, the power is often given to our feelings.Being a person whose emotions have such depth and such weight, my feelings hold an authoritative role in my life. How I feel can determine how I act, how productive I am, how I interact with people, how I see myself and more. And even worse, my feelings can become such a dominant force in my mind that I convince myself that they are true. This means that the feelings that I'm not pretty enough, not smart enough, not talented enough, and not strong enough can take hold of me and become truths that I live by. Like wet cement now hardened, my negative feelings can toughen into what I relentlessly believe is unshakable truth.When we live our lives clinging to false truth, truth that was built on feelings and not the word of God, we are living lies. Lies that force us to buy into anxiety and fear and shame. To buy into the devil's temptations. Our harmful and hurtful feelings do not come from the Lord. They come from the enemy. Our negative feelings are weeds from the devil that strangle the truth that God has planted before us.Here's the good news: a life of truth is possible. With practice and prayer, we can stop watering the weeds and start watering God's truth. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul tells the church what life as a Christian looks like, and time after time he reminds them to "live in accordance with the truth." He encourages them to speak truthfully and put off falsehoods. Just in this short passage, Paul tells us to cling to truth four times. Four times, friends!The truth is, we do not have to be afraid. We are not inadequate. We are worthy. That was set in stone went Jesus bled and died for us. It is true because it comes from the Lord, the author of the universe. The One who does not change. Our feelings come from our culture, our own anxiety, our own insecurity. Why do these have precedence over God's word? Where is there worth? Why do we give them so much power?As I have moved into a life where I live according to the God's truth instead of my own fleeting, unstable feelings, I have moved into a life of less fear and less anxiety. I am no longer drowning in my damaging feelings because I can hold onto His truth for refuge. I am no longer twisted and tangled in the tough and tall weeds of the enemy's lies. I am not perfect, I still have moments when the emotions are too raw and too real, but one by one, I am uprooting the enemy's weeds so that what is true can grow tall in it's place. John 14:6 says, I am the way and the truth and the life. If we want to seek a life with Jesus, we must also seek a life of truth.words by Kate Payne and photo by Nicole Lamkin