Feeling | Steve Wright's Writings

Archives For Feeling

Don’t Let God Just Watch Your Problems

March 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

Letting God into your problems is different from letting God watch your problems. Letting Him into your problems means you allow God to have control of what you are trying to run. On the other hand, letting God watch your problems is an insult to the work of the cross. He endured the cross so that you might be free in Him.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” (NASB) You and I fight against God when we try to control and win against the problems of our lives. It can’t be both ways with God when it comes to the subject of control. You can’t control and surrender control at the same time. Either you are in control, or God is in control. One works to bring Him glory, and the other points to our own pride as the answer.

In order to have peace, the surrendering of your problems must be laid at the feet of Jesus. You must stop striving by taking your hands off the proverbial wheel of control. You long for peace and rest but you will never experience either until you give your problems to the Prince of Peace.

God loves to speak to His children, “The battle is not yours; it’s mine. You don’t have to fight in it.” You need to take the discouragement, the tiredness and the fatigue that comes along with carrying all the troubles and realize that it doesn’t depend on you. God is calling to you over and over to let Him take control. Bless God today by giving Him the gift of your rubbish.

Turning your rubbish over to God means you must trust Him. When you don’t understand, or life seems unfair and makes remarkably little sense at all, that is a definite signpost pointing you to turn it all over to Jesus. Don’t be the person who says they trust God, but when trouble hits they run it through their own filter first. Remove the filter and let God be God in your life.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths”

Yes, I Feel This Way Often

March 12, 2013 — 2 Comments

I’m empty today. There is nothing inside of me that is happy. I’m my own worse nightmare. I break promises to God all the time, and I feel there is no way He can love me knowing the thoughts of my heart.

Bitterness haunts me and broken dreams seem to be the only thing in front of me. I keep going and yet deep inside I long for another direction for my life. I question if God knows what He is doing in my life. I fail so often I’ve almost started to expect nothing less.

I wonder constantly how to be a better Father, and yet I seem to never follow through on things and time is slipping away. I desperately want to be a better husband and yet I fall short time and time again. I want to be a better pastor, but I’m confused to what all that means and I wonder if I’m just setting myself up for more disappointment.

I write these things today to show you the voices I encounter on a daily basis, but I also write to tell you more.

I’m actually not empty because He said He would always be with me. That is a promise I can count on regardless of feelings. I don’t have to always be happy because He has promised me joy by the power of His Holy Spirit. I don’t have to worry about being my own worse nightmare because He is for me. I may break promises, but He is the God of mercy and even though He sees the thoughts of my heart, He knows I’m but clay and loves me anyway.

The Bitterness that comes from broken dreams only proves He has a better plan and a better way. The longing for another direction is only a thought of momentary escape, and God knows I’m committed until the end. He is not afraid of my questioning Him because in doing so, I’m drawn closer to His heart. I might fail more often than succeed, but He is there to pick me up when everyone else has run away.

He whispers to me that being a Father is not about being perfect but about loving them and pointing them toward Him, the perfect Father of all. He encourages me to love my wife as Christ loved the church and yet knows I will fail from time to time. Again He shows me His mercy and Grace. He calls to me to remain steadfast in being a pastor and promises me that when the chief Shepherd appears, I will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Oh the beauty of following Christ! Maybe you have similar feelings about your life today? If you do have similar feelings, then welcome to the human story. If you do have similar feelings, then He knows all about them. If you do have similar feelings, then you need to know they will one day pass away forever. Until then, keep walking, keep believing for He is with you.

The Ugly Grudge Bucket

February 21, 2013 — 2 Comments

There is just something ugly about a Christ follower carrying grudges. Carrying around that proverbial bucket filled with ugly is a laborious task to keep doing. In fact, not only is it laborious,but also it grieves the heart of God. We are supposed to be people of forgiveness.

Grudges lead to nowhere good! Grudges damage everything. Grudges will hurt you from the inside out and will produce a wedge between you and your fellowship with God. Letting go of grudges and moving beyond them is the only godly option.

Letting go of grudges can prove to be difficult. Let’s face it, when you have been hurt, it is hard to let go. Fear often plays a role in us not letting go because we don’t want to ever be hurt again. Therefore, we hold on to the grudge and keep our guard up. As right as that may feel, you and I know deep down inside it’s just downright wrong.

You can only be free when you forgive. Otherwise, you are in a prison of your own creation. You are letting the grudge be your Lord instead of Jesus. Anger and frustration control you more than you know. However, you would do well to remember Ephesians 4:26-27 – And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Grudges are nothing to play with. Grudges can take you down a path you never thought you would go. You might do something you will regret forever. Turn before it’s to late and you jeopardize your reputation and the position you carry as a Christ follower.

Holding on to a grudge is not done in a vacuum. The longer you hold a grudge the more you will entice others into thinking about the person you are angry at in the same way you do, then you become the blind leading the blind. Read with your heart the following verses and enjoy the rest of your day.

Hebrews 12:14-15 – Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Is Loneliness Choking You?

February 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Loneliness chokes the human spirit. Loneliness was one of the first feelings God dealt with in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:18 God said, “It’s not good for the man to be alone…” In a beautiful garden that was created by God, loneliness somehow showed up and it’s be showing up ever since.

Have you ever felt completely alone? I’m sure you have. Maybe you are feeling lonely right now. Maybe you are feeling like no one who crosses your path daily even has a clue as to just how lonely you feel. The world simply can’t see deep into your soul where the pain of loneliness has found a home.

Loneliness doesn’t discriminate. It happens to people of all ages and from every walk of life. There are some people that have lived more than half their life wondering why they are even here at all. A deep sense of loneliness attacks some people from time to time and yet, for others loneliness seems to never go away. The pain of loneliness is so powerful it feels like a endless night where there is no rest for the soul.

If you are feeling loneliness today, you are not alone. You are not the first to experience loneliness, and you will not be the last to feel loneliness. Even Jesus felt loneliness, so you are in good company. Jesus felt loneliness in the garden the night He asked His disciples to pray with Him and they feel asleep. Jesus felt loneliness when the disciples fled and allowed Him to confront His trials by Himself. Jesus, on the cross, cried out in absolute loneliness as He spoke, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”

God understands loneliness. He still calls it “not good.” Loneliness is a cold dark road to be on, but one day it will be done away with forever. Loneliness knows it’s existence is short. At the second coming of Christ, He will set all things right. There will be no more tears in God’s future. Loneliness will be cast away forever, giving way to an eternal sunrise.

I have no answers for you today. I only have a road to keep pointing you down. It’s a road where heaven and earth will one day come together, and God will dwell with us forever. That my dear friend, is the hope that lights the way through loneliness.

Guilt And The Lap Of God

January 17, 2013 — 2 Comments

Have you ever had trouble staying awake during your prayer time? Many years ago I had a season in my life where I fell asleep more often than I would like to acknowledge. At first, it didn’t bother me much. I just excused it because I had been working a little more than usual.

However, guilt quickly set in, and it made me feel horrible. Each time I fell asleep it just increased the guilt. I was beginning to feel shame, and I had thoughts of God being seriously disappointed in me. It’s distressing enough, I thought, to fall asleep during prayer but to feel like God was disappointed in me was worse.

No matter how hard I tried to stay awake during this period of my life, I would doze off. No one else knew but me, and of course God, but I was feeling like a spiritual failure. I was feeling like God was mad at me. I was trying hard to stay awake but getting nowhere. I heard the voice of guilt more than the voice of God.

Then it happened! One day I came home from work early, and my daughter who was about four at the time came running up to me and said, “Daddy, can you read me this book in your chair?” I smiled and said, “Of course I will.”

We settled into my favorite chair, and I lifted her up and into my lap. She turned her head slightly back and up and made eye contact with me, accompanied by a smile. I was feeling pretty good. I was having a perfect Father and Daughter moment.

As I was reading, she would look up and back at me asking questions and making comments. I was completely pleased with the moment. We were simply spending time together, and it felt incredible.

As I continued to read, her conversation and questions fell silent. She was getting tired. It wasn’t long until she fell asleep in my arms. I closed the book and just enjoyed the time we were having together. I was thankful she wanted to spend time with me at all.

Then it happened! God spoke and healed my guilt about falling asleep on Him. I could hear Him whisper to my heart. “Are you mad at her for falling asleep?” My heart whisper back to God was, “No Lord, I love just being with her.” His response back was, “I feel the same way about you.”

It was on that day God took my guilt away. His love for me was not based on effort and discipline, even though they are beneficial. His love for me is unconditional, and He is pleased even when I fall asleep in His lap with His arms wrapped around me.

Complaining Changes Nothing

December 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

Complaining feels like the right thing to do, when my world is falling apart. Complaining makes me feel like I’m fighting against injustice in my life. Complaining is something I falsely think I can control and direct in any direction that makes me feel a little better.

What about you? How do you view complaining? Do you like it? Does it feel good to complain when your world is not lining up the way you expected?

We like to complain because it seems to get the discontentment that is on the inside of us out. However, complaining is just downright wrong to do, and it changes nothing.

Complaining will never change the problem or problems you are facing. In fact, complaining most often causes more problems. Complaining spreads discontentment through your spirit faster than anything else I know.

The most devastating fruit of complaining is it keeps me from obeying God’s word and trusting Him with all of my life. When you complain, you reach into the hand of God and take little bits and pieces that you think should be changed the way you see it and not the way God see’s it.

In Philippians 2:14 we are instructed to “Do all things without grumbling…”

Notice the two words, ‘all things.’ That certainly sums it up! We are not to complain because God is in control of our lives. When we complain it is a form of non-trust in God’s working in and through our lives. When we complain, it is disobedience and unbelief. Worst of all, Complaining gives place to the enemy to work stronger in your life.

So, what is the answer? What must we do?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 gives us the answer and what to do. It tells us, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

For more on Complaining and some practical steps, see this post.

4 Tips On Dealing With Criticism

November 29, 2012 — Leave a comment

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

No one wakes up in the morning and says, “I hope I get criticized today.” None of us pursues criticism, but criticism has a way of finding each of us. We each love positive feedback that lifts us up and encourages us. However, along with positive feedback, there is a place for criticism in our lives.

As a pastor, I get my share of uplifting feedback, and I’m grateful when it happens. It’s nice to know you are loved, cared for and that something you have said or written has touched someone’s life in a positive way. Nevertheless, criticism finds it way to my doorstep also. I don’t have a criticism shield that protects me from hard words, but I do have a way of navigating strong and sometime hash words.

1. Fast answers mostly make it worse

When I first hear or receive criticism, I tend to get defensive. I can feel hurt and anger start to gain a foothold on my heart. Therefore, I don’t answer the criticism fast. I take time to hear it again, read it again, and think through it. I want to first find any truth in the criticism that I can grow from. You can’t find the truth in criticism fast. You must find it slow.

2. I write what my flesh would like to say

I have fun with this one. I defuse my anger and hurt by GOING OFF in writing. I write strong in your face stuff. I respond like I’m in a war. I keep writing until I begin to laugh with just how silly my words of defense are. Once I’m done with writing, I delete it or throw it away.

3. I try and give the other person grace and pray

Often we only see criticism as all about us. However, that is just not the case. The other person might be condemning me because they are just hurt and needed to deflect their angry and pain toward another person. Therefore, I read the criticism again and look for pain that might be in their life. Then I pray for them. It’s hard to stay mad at someone you pray for.

4. I respond until its time not to respond anymore

If I respond I ask them question of clarification. I ask them question that help me to see their side. I can’t fully turn a situation around unless I really have a handle on what they are truly trying to say. If they answer back in a calm and mature manner, then I keep the conversation going. If they take it to a more ugly level…I stop responding and move on with my life.

What Will You Be When The Wheel Stops Spinning?

November 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Isaiah 64:8
8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

God is not finished with you yet. His position in your life is set. He is your Father and your potter. Your position in Him is set. You are His clay and the work of His hand. One day the wheel will stop spinning. What will you be?

God excels in taking clay and transforming it by His grace into a vessel of honor and glory for His namesake.

In Philippians 1:6 we read, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

It is God that has begun the good work in you and he will complete it. On the Day of Jesus Christ, when Heaven and Earth are joined forever, and there is no more death, sin, pain or injustice…you will stand complete in Him.

That day in the future, God wants to bring to bear on your life in the now. You are clay He is shaping to feed the hungry. You are clay He is shaping to give drink to the thirsty. You are the clay He is shaping to welcome the stranger. You are the clay He is shaping to put clothing on the naked. You are the clay He is shaping to visit the sick, and you are also the clay He is shaping to go to those who are in prison.

What about you today? Are you struggling to be conformed to all that God wants to do in your life? Is there an area that you have kept uncommitted to the hand of the potter? Here, is the good news- God does not abandon you. You just maybe need to be reshaped, reworked, reformed a bit more.

You are the clay that God picks up and works into the image of His son. He shapes you as He wants you. Yes, there are times the shaping really hurts, but when He is finished you will be fully human.

Are you open to being reworked by God’s hands? Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Think on this today- If you don’t allow the potter to come into complete contact with you, you will remain an unrealized masterpiece. He has a plan for you life. He wants to use you, but you must remain on the wheel of the potter.

Allow me to remind you once more. One day the wheel will stop spinning. What will you be?

Loneliness Runs Deep

November 19, 2012 — 2 Comments

Psalm 142:4 (ESV)

4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

David felt invisible. He felt like he had no safe place. He felt like no one cared for his well being. David was lonely.

Loneliness is when a person experiences a powerful feeling of emptiness and isolation. That was David. How about you? Have you been feeling lonely lately? If so, God cares for the lonely and God knows what loneliness feels like.

God created Adam. Adam lived in a perfect Garden. However, one thing was missing! He had an aching deep inside that the Garden could not take away. Adam was lonely. The poet John Milton once wrote, “Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye named, not good”

In Genesis 2:18 God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone…

We were created for relationships. That’s why loneliness is so ugly and God calls it not good. God didn’t intend for people to be lonely or to live alone. God created us to be in relationship with Him and others. Mother Teresa once said, ‘The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.

The Pain of loneliness runs deep, but God’s healing runs deeper. I want you to believe that today. I want you to hold on to that truth.

I have 2 questions I would like to raise and answer

1. Does God Care About the Lonely?

2. Does God understand what loneliness feels like?

In Mark 1, we have the story of a leper.

1. Does God Care About The Lonely?

In Christ’s day, when someone approached a leper, they had to cry aloud, “Unclean!” Their lives were a living hell. They were shunned and isolated. They couldn’t even enter the temple to pray. They couldn’t hug their children, or spend time with their family. They were cast outside with others who were unclean. THEY WERE LONELY.

Mark 1:40-42

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”

People are not the source; God is the source. God did not create us to be lonely. We have an intrinsic need for relationships.

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

Jesus could have healed without touching this man. However, he was lonely and needed a touch. When Jesus healed the leper, He did more than cure a disease. He took the leper from a life of loneliness and isolation, into a life of relationships and community.

2. Does God understand what loneliness feels like?

John 16:32(ESV)

32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me

Jesus knows what loneliness feels like. Peter said to Jesus he would never deny him and so did the rest of the disciples. Of course, we know the rest of the story. In the Garden, they couldn’t even stay awake with Christ. The disciples ended up scattering. On the cross Jesus experienced the Father pulling away, when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”

I remind you once more; the pain of loneliness runs deep, but God’s healing runs deeper. He cares for the lonely and He knows what loneliness feels like. My prayer is that you will find comfort in this truth.

Don’t Sweat It; God Is In Control

November 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

God’s sovereignty is found from the opening pages of scripture. When you read Genesis 1:1 it teaches that in the beginning, God created all things. God’s authority and power are found in creation.

All the way through the Old Testament and the New Testament, God’s sovereignty is proved. The Bible even ends with God as the Omnipotent judge of all creation. There simply is no debating the sovereignty of God. He is sovereign.

The reason I’m bringing up God’s sovereignty is because it’s important to your life. How do you feel about God’s sovereignty? Do you believe in His sovereignty? A Christ follower will agree with God’s sovereignty when all things are running smooth. However, if things are out of control, and life seems to be completely falling apart, the Christ follower may begin to doubt the sovereignty of God.

At times, confusion concerning God’s sovereignty sets in, and your world becomes unstable. So, what is the Christ follower to do when this happens?

1. Don’t leave your foundation

Belief that God is in control is a faith fundamental. There is no other foundation to build on. It’s imperative to remain on the foundation. The world will rock and shake around you, but God’s foundation is unshakable.

2. Keep trusting

When you keep trusting, it is an act of pure worship back to God. You are saying to God that no matter what, you will keep moving forward with Him. It is showing that you will serve Him no matter how rough the road may become.

3. Problems are no problem for Him

Whatever you are facing is not a problem for God. It’s a problem for you, but not for God. He works all things out according to His perfect purpose. It’s not about you; it’s all about His glory.

4. You will not understand it all

You will never understand all that happens to you this side of the second coming, but one day it will all make perfect sense. Live with that thought in your heart and mind and it will keep you in perfect peace.

I leave you with this quote.

“If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.” ~R.C. Sproul

Archives For Feeling

Don’t Let God Just Watch Your Problems

Yes, I Feel This Way Often

The Ugly Grudge Bucket

Is Loneliness Choking You?

Guilt And The Lap Of God

Complaining Changes Nothing

4 Tips On Dealing With Criticism

What Will You Be When The Wheel Stops Spinning?

Loneliness Runs Deep

Don’t Sweat It; God Is In Control

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