The Battles of the Soul
“But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength…”
2 Timothy 4:17
Emotions are a part of who we are as human beings. We cannot escape from them but we can control them and overcome them through discipline. Do you remember the last time that you were emotionally overwhelmed? Don’t you hate those moments in life when you’re feeling depressed, sad, and anxious all at the same time? Isn’t that the worst feeling?
We clearly know that life is not easy. Life comes with battles that are difficult to fight and at this moment, I want to speak about our emotional battles; those battles we have to deal with and confront. As human beings, we sometimes don’t even understand ourselves. We don’t understand why we feel a certain way, react a certain, and why we were created a certain way. One moment we’re feeling happy, the next moment we’re feeling sad. One moment we’re relaxed and the next moment we’re feeling stressed. Yeah, it’s normal. Ladies and gentleman, it’s TOTALLY normal. You know what’s not normal? To maintain in that state of mind for weeks, months, and years. Now, that’s not normal. In life, we will ALL come across moments like those. We’re human beings and we understand that.
In the Bible, we read about an individual who was emotionally overwhelmed and exhausted. Perhaps it was David, but we're gona leave it at that..
Psalms 42:5 says: “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become restless and disturbed within me? Psalms 42:9 he says, “O God my rock,” I cry, why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief...”
If you read the whole chapter, you will see how he was crossing a difficult moment emotionally. He was expressing his need for God because he was in complete despair, solitude, deeply discouraged, torn down and sad. He questioned God and wondered why God had forgotten about him. He even mentioned that he was wandering in grief. If I can be completely honest with you, I’ve felt that way. I was actually feeling that way a few weeks ago and that is why I was inspired to write about this topic.
When you are feeling like this because of life… seek God's presence. Find hope in Him. Find rest in Him. Find peace in Him. Find strength in Him. In verse 11b, says, “I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!” Here, he knew what to do in order to overcome depression, sadness, and anxiety. The individual knew he had to put his hope in God. So, when you’re feeling emotionally overwhelmed, find in God what it is that you need; whether if it is peace, sanity, strength, etc.
Let me also share with you two reasons why we can appreciate these moments. What I love about these experiences is that you get to know yourself. Life is about maturing throughout the years and becoming who God wants you to be. But, in order to mature and know ourselves, we must go through difficulties. Only in those moments, we become aware of who we are…. resilient, courageous, wise, optimistic, adaptable, capable, persistent, disciplined, faithful, honest, humble, open, independent and even indecisive, dramatic, impatient, etc. The second reason why we should appreciate these experiences is because we have our amazing God just beside us to help us cope with what life throws at us. He helps us handle ANYTHING; whether if it is an emotional battle, mental battle, or spiritual battle. Hebrew 4:16 tells us to “…approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” One thing you must know about God is that He created us, therefore, he knows us and is more than ready to help us ANYTIME. God loves YOU dearly and is merciful, loving, caring and sees everything that you are battling with and wants to help.
My dear readers, blessings to you & thank you for your time.
Elizabeth Menegazzo