MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS
We hear about the importance of developing our IQ or Intelligence Quotient all the time. But not enough emphasis is being made on the importance of developing our EQ or Emotional intelligence Quotient.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize one’s moods, feelings and impulses, and process them into right thinking and action. It goes hand in hand with spiritual maturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).
Disappointments are inevitable. And how we handle our emotions especially in difficult circumstances says a lot about our emotional maturity, and ultimately, about our spiritual maturity. Parents must teach their children how to face disappointments and not to shelter them from it. The problem is, even some adults are unable to process disappointments properly. They make sinful decisions that hurt themselves, others and God.
Emotions are not necessarily bad, but they can be negative. We don’t have to deny them, but we need to learn to process them, to master them. I we don’t master our negative emotions, they will master us. Take Saul for example. When David won the face-off with Goliath, Saul eyed him with jealousy instead of praising God (1 Samuel 18:8-9). And when he saw that God was with David, Saul became fearful of him instead of just thanking God that he had such a man on his team (1 Samuel 18:28-29).
Saul was so consumed with his kingdom, with his jealousy, fear and anger of David, that he pursued David relentlessly. When we are full of ourselves, we succumb to our emotions, especially the negative ones. We need to be God-centered so we can master our emotions.
To be God-centered is to be controlled by the Spirit. Our earnest prayer every morning should be that God will fill us with His Spirit. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we have“…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”(Galatians 5:22-23).
To be God-centered also means we run to God in prayer when we are faced with situations that trigger negative emotions. It is not making rash decisions when emotions are running high.
David perfectly exemplifies God-centeredness. When Saul was pursuing him and he had nowhere to hide because even Saul’s enemies, the Philistines, won’t take him; and the Amalekites raided his place, kidnapping his two wives; and his people were speaking of stoning him for what happened – during that time, “David strengthened himself in the LORD his God” (1 Samuel 30:1-6). This doesn’t mean that David didn’t feel sad or afraid, because he did. But he processed his emotions and brought them to God. David’s response was to trust in the greatness and promises of God (Psalm 56:3-4).
After turning to Him in prayer, let us wait upon the Lord and be patient. In the Bible, the Lord promised David that he will become a king, but King Saul turned against him. David then became a fugitive. Even when he had the chance to kill Saul, David didn’t take matters into his own hands; he waited upon the Lord’s timing to make him a king (1 Samuel 24:4-5; 26:8-10). To be God-centered, we need to learn to wait.
To be God-centered is to praise Him even amidst difficult situations. Trust that He is faithful to fulfill His promises. David believed that God is good and God will bless him soon (Psalm 27:13-14). David could wait for the Lord not because of His blessings but because his passion was on God Himself (Psalm 27:4). When we put God first in our lives, and earnestly desire to dwell in His presence and praise Him, we are allowing Him to work all things for our good.
Do you have problems today? Remember that God is bigger than any problem, so we can put our hope in Him. No matter how grave the situation you’re in or how negative you’re feeling, the truth remains that ours is a living God, and if we learn how to master our emotions, He can turn our disappointments into blessings.
~grabbed from https://www.facebook.com/dawnsteph
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