March 2012
Dealing With Feelings
By Pastor Lew Pizzala
“And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LordGod of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” 1 Kings 19:9,10
People who think right focus on the facts and not their feelings. Can you imagine some of the feelings that must have been going off in Elijah?One moment, he is a great man of God, the next moment, like a coward, he is running from the threats of a woman.This is when he wanted to die.His mistake:“if I feel like a failure I must be a failure.”It’s called emotional reasoning and it’s the chief food supply of all depression.
Emotional reasoning is that destructive dynamic that says:“I feel it so it must be true.”It’s one of the reasons why preachers drop out of the ministry and quit.They preach a sermon on Sunday, than Monday when they are emotionally exhausted; the enemy tells them how they flopped the day before.And if they feel it, it must be true.Feelings are not always true, and for that reason you need to consider them unreliable, and “second fiddle” to the facts.
