Lift You Up

If I were to ask you, “How do you feel?” what would you say?

Really. How are you feeling?

That’s not an easy question to answer. It demands a pause. It requires an emotional inventory…and that’s not always fun. We can say, “fine,” and that might be true, but what are we really feeling behind the “fine?”

Honestly, I think we naturally respond to our deep feelings in one of two ways:

We navigate around our feelings by staying busy and getting things done. That’s not such a bad thing in small doses (productivity can be great), but it can be a real problem when it becomes a regular habit. To stop and feel the feelings could lead us to a place that is too overwhelming to deal with, and frankly, most of us don’t have time to camp out in such a place for very long.

The other option is to freely express all of our feelings without restraint; either towards everyone, or at the least, with those we live with. We may not even understand where they are coming from, but we make little effort to harness them or to identify their true source.

These days I find myself wrestling with a certain numbness to what I am feeling…which might in fact be a third way of responding to deep feelings. I’m not busing myself, rather it seems this numbness is creating a frustrating paralysis of productivity. I want to get things done and yet I don’t actually do them. I hate it, but it is where I am.

All I know is, it’s a warning sign that I need to find time with Jesus and be honest about what’s going on inside of me.

There’s a verse in James that says, 

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7-10)

It sounds so harsh, and yet I believe it gives us a step by step guide to processing through our feelings.

1. First, we need to STOP and submit ourselves to God, remembering (or realizing) that He’s the boss and I am His dearly loved kid.
2. Second, make the choice to resist temptations. The temptation to question God’s goodness. The temptation to justify or rationalize our pain. The temptation that logically gives us reason to fear. When we do that, it says the enemy HAS TO flee. That’s awesome!
3. Once we have done #1 & #2, we can with confidence come and sit with God. For me, that means “sitting in his lap,” like a child does with a loving parent. It’s the safest place to be. Regardless of what that looks like for you, it means getting close and intimate with our Father. And when we move toward Him, there is the amazing promise that He then moves towards us. We always have access to our “Daddy-King.”
4. Next is the realization that we need to have our hearts cleaned out. Have you heard the phrase, “Jesus loves us just the way we are, but too much to keep us there?” Well, it’s true. He lets us get close to him even when we are a hot mess. We are ALL invited to approach him just as we are. Although; it is important to remember that just nestling up to Him doesn’t make our problems go away. Rather, it puts us in the best position for Him to walk through those problems with us.   
5. After we are close to Him, “Grieve, mourn and wail…” This is the absolute safest place to feel our feelings. No rationalization. No guilt. No audience. No one to disappoint. No need to justify. We are free and safe to just feel what we feel; to be honest about our fears, guilt and doubt. Trade the formalities for authenticity. Trade the fake smile for real tears. Trade the facade for the raw version of yourself. HERE COMES THE BEST PART…
6. When we can be that real before God, He becomes extremely real to us AND it says, “He will lift” us up. When God picks us up, NO ONE can knock us down!

So many times, in my own life, I have attempted to manage my feelings on my own. I rationalize peace by thinking through scenarios until I can control my fears. It gives a temporary rest for sure, but only until I became overwhelmed again. The reality is it is an exhausting cycle that always leaves me feeling overwhelmed.

What I have learned (and still have to remember), is it is only when I am authentic before God, allowing Him to meet me in the deepest places of my heart, that I have lasting peace.

And that peace will always trump what’s logical.

I am changed forever! Not done, but in THAT area, completely made whole. Where we allow God to lift us up, we will stand secure and experience authentic peace.

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:6-7 (The Passion Translation)

In the Meanwhile…

Where is it in your own life that you need to submit to God the things that are controlling you?

What are you not allowing yourself to feel?

What does it look like for you to become like a child, sit on the lap of your God, and just be real with Him?

My prayer is that you would allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the unhealthy ways you “deal” with your feelings. Then choose to STOP and find a quiet place (even in the bathroom) where you can authentically feel those feeling before God. Let Him hold you. Let Him heal you. Let Him lift you up.