I don’t know about you, but my emotions are usually the first to respond to a situation, and the last to catch on to what is actually true.  That’s why it’s best not to let them lead.

Modern society would argue that point loudly, thanks to the very successful efforts of the psychology movement in the last sixty to seventy years, which convinced almost everyone that in order to find truth and meaning in this world we needed to look deep inside ourselves.  Consequently, individual experiences and emotions and perspectives were elevated to new heights, and even Christian thinking took on a Self-tinged, relativistic hue. Life is deeper and richer because of our emotions, and it seems only natural to follow where those powerful tides pull us, right?

But a long time ago a wise man told me that doing the right thing depends on choosing to do it, regardless of how you feel. Let reason and faith inform your will, and let will bend in surrender to God, and the emotions will trail along behind until they gradually fall in line. (Unfortunately, he neglected to mention how fiercely said emotions would make themselves known….or what a battle it would be to consistently choose what is right against the tide of feeling….and how wearing a mask to show the right things on the outside is not the same thing as truly choosing…but that is another story altogether.) He was correct at the root of it all. You have to know what voices to listen to, know what can lead you well, if you want a good outcome. The Wise King agrees that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) It’s reverence and knowledge of God that lead us to wisdom.

My feelings about a thing do not determine whether it is right or wrong…or even if it is real. My feelings are not the best informant on the value of something, or the wisdom or health of a decision. Feelings are just one more faculty of being, given by the Creator so I could have relationship with Him and with the people around me. Feelings are an important part of who He made me to be, but like every other part, need to be re-shaped day by day by His Spirit living in me. I know that things never end well when unchecked emotions are leading the way. No matter what I am feeling, I find that choosing to give thanks reminds me where to look– which direction I am heading– as if gratitude were a compass on this Faith-journey. .And it’s always remarkable how when you are lost in a sea of emotions, it is trusting God and accepting what He gives you that brings clarity to thinking, and orders your world.  A sister-mentor reminds “No one receives the peace of God without giving thanks to God.” (Ann VosKamp)

The patterns of this world might call for us to follow our hearts, no matter in what winding ways they lead. But Jesus is calling us to take up our cross and follow Him, and His is the narrow way that leads us straight Home.

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