O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, 2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands-- 4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe-- 5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. Selah

“This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” Probably all who receive this each day would claim faith in God, yet many are filled with all kinds of troubling emotions, doubts, fears, anxieties and others. Facing the realities of life does indeed bring on these types of emotions. That is normal psychological behavior and response. It is not bad nor is it wrong.

Take anger for example. We are told by Paul to be angry but not to sin. He then says for us to not let the sun go down on our anger and then to never give the devil an opportunity because of our anger. Later he says that we are to get rid of all bitterness, clamor, slander and abusive speech. Anger is not wrong but we must learn to control it. When we remember that God said to leave the vengeance to him and he would take care of it, we get rid of the feeling for revenge. We give that to God. When we feel wronged, we forgive and let God take care of the rest.

So it is with other emotions that flood our souls. When we are filled with grief, we can find comfort in knowing that God has felt that same grief when he gave his Son or when we rejected him or when we just failed to love him in return. We can turn our grief over “the Father of compassion and God of comfort who comforts us in all our troubles.”

It is not wrong for us to feel these emotions. God has given them to us as a healthy outlet as the means to relieve the everyday stress that comes to all of us. It is when we allow these emotions to take over our lives and we begin to turn inward or seek some alternative means to get past them that we run into trouble. We must simply turn these over to God and allow him to work in us and thru us to use these feelings to help us become better, stronger and more like him and then in turn to help others who are facing the same things.

Father, thank you for giving me the assurance that you have heard my prayer before it even leaves my lips. Thank you for always being available to me and hearing my complaints, my fears, my doubts, my disappointment, and my grief. Thank you for hearing my joy and attainment. Give me faith and wisdom to be able to trust you completely and to know that you will take care of the things I face in this life. Use me as your means of helping others and encouraging them. I thank you in the name of Jesus.