Another morning of medical tests. No coffee, no water, UGH.
Admittedly I miss coffee more than water, but either are hard to do without. Sitting in the medical center I am overcome by the different stages of life. Young and Old alike are subject to our bodies, which are subject to illness, which is one of lives bummers. No one likes to be sick.
But, as I sit in God’s waiting room, I am learning once again the importance of examining what I really believe…not what I say with sweet lips or what I say in front of people, but what I really believe at the depth and core of who I am.
I am discovering that some things I believe are not just short on faith, but some things I believe at CORE/HEART level are laced with hurt and negative messages that I picked up somewhere along life’s way. To blame my hurt feelings on someone today, is ridiculous when I stop and realize that the emotion that comes up is not really from today, but what I have learned to believe in my yesterdays. Bad beliefs have to go…one by one…they will be healed by God, if and when we take a look at our self rather than blaming everyone else for how we feel. It’s a good practice to ask God to expose what we believe and why.
Today’s question:
What IF your feelings were not dependent on what happened to you, but rather were a direct result of what you thought about the thing that happened to you?
In other words, What If what you believe about things is really the most important indicator of a productive life and healthy relationships with others?
Our daily lives have a pattern:
- Event…something happens to us, good or bad
- Belief…what we think about event, what we Believe about it.
- Feelings…emotional response to what we believe
- Actions…living out a path based on our emotional response to what we believe.
As you can see, it’s not the Event itself that is the problem, even though there are many things we would rather not have to go through. The problem lies in the Belief. What we believe seeps into our emotional tank which we then in turn begin to act out in.
What usually happens is we blame our feelings on what has happened to us. We rarely look at what we believe, we point our fingers at what to blame. Our feelings then grow to exaggerated levels, and we begin to act our of our feelings/ hurts/ emotional responses… rather than live up in faith.
The interesting thing is, if you take time to examine why your feelings are funky, you might discover that it’s not what you are going through that is the culprit, but something you believe about yourself or life, based on past hurts.
Jesus is the healer of our past hurts.
Today’s Truth
“I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.” Psalm 120:1-2
“May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” Psalm 119:41-45
Processing the Truth
- What are the lying and deceitful thoughts that you have believed?
- What in your past has made an impact that negated God’s Truth at the core of you?
- Are you prepared with an answer for the one who taunts you? Do you realize that taunting comes from your own negative beliefs, your own thoughts, and the hurts , circumstances or words that wounded from your past?
- Can you see how Satan and circumstances seem to snatch the truth from your heart?
Today’s Prayer
Father, I want to live up! I want to learn what it is that pushes my buttons, making me prone to emotional response. Teach me to look at my own response and how it relates to my heart of hearts. Heal my heart, Jesus. Speak to me with the Truth of your Word.
Debbie, I love your blog devotional and it inspires me dailty to examine my thinking and my beliefs. I hope your tests went well today. xxoo…Annie
Wow…this might just be the BEST one yet! You describe the process and the solution with such clarity! This is one to print and glue onto my eyeballs… 🙂
I’ve been dealing with this all weekend and even though I’ve already acted upon my beliefs it is a comfort to know the Lord is there no matter what and he was there through all of it.
Debbie, Thank you so much for describing how to get out of a funk. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in July, had an operation in August and after finding another in Sept. Then I developed a painful condition in my armpit that makes it nearly impossible to wear even a t-shirt (let alone something that might make me more feminine). After enduring 16 weeks of chemotherapy with all kinds of reactions, I was looking forward to recovery. I was then placed on hormone therapy and signed up for radiation too. The hormone therapy caused a psychiatric reaction – which sent me to the hospital, twice – before we figured it all out. That’s when your funk started, and I was right there with you.
When I think of focusing on Jesus, I always picture him walking on the water. The waves are all the troubles of this world. While Peter was so focused, he was able to completely follow Jesus. Once he was distracted by the waves, he started to sink.
Don’t you think the same principles apply to us?
Thank you for helping me re-focus.
Dianne Duffy,
Livermore (by way of Korrine and Lorri – my best examples)