Sometimes we have to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves. I know. Gasp. Who would have thought that in and of ourselves we don’t have everything all figured out?
Lately there seems to be an increase in people in all circles saying that they have a right to feel however they do, and that because they have that right everyone else should just leave them be. Certainly we have the right to feel however we feel about any given situation or set of circumstances but that right does not make those feelings right.
Confused? Allow me to give you an example. Single girls who deeply desire marriage have a right to feel frustrated that their spouse has not yet come along. At times, single girls even have a right to feel angry about being yet unwed. However, just because they have the right to feel that way, that doesn’t make their feelings right.
A more extreme example: a man’s wife goes running and is killed by a drunk driver. The man, understandably, is upset, angry, and unwilling to forgive the drunk driver. Does the man have the right to feel all of those things? Absolutely. Does God want that man to remain angry and unforgiving for the rest of his life? No way.
There’s this amazing thing about God (well, there are a lot of amazing things about Him, but let’s just stick to this one for now): He lets us have feelings. He allows us to be angry, annoyed, frustrated, bitter, jealous, happy, sad, and everywhere in between with Him, and with life. What we need to remember is that not all of those feelings are where He is calling us. He didn’t make us for bitterness, hatred, resentment, anger or jealousy. He made us for love because He made us in His image and He is love. Do we have a right to feel whatever it is we need to feel? Yes. But should we stick with those feelings forever? Nope. The simple truth is that God loves us too much to leave us where we are. We may be frustrated or annoyed with something, but He wants us to move beyond those feelings to a place of peace. Ultimately, as always, He wants to move us closer to His heart, to the way He sees the world, and to His love.
