Tag Archives: faith journey

Emotional Wreck

Posted on by
3

Have you ever been so mad you could just spit nails? I was there this week. Bottled up anger fueling a stubborn streak that is still trickling through my veins. If nothing else this introvert will always win a battle of the cold shoulder. Trust me. On the other side of the coin, I just got off the phone with a friend who was engulfed in a mix of grief, frustration and sadness. Tears flowed and she simply didn’t know how to function. Still another friend expressed her feelings about the current state of affairs in Afghanistan’s Taliban take over with shock. How can human beings be so fearful that they would risk hanging off the landing gear of a moving plane?! “Unbelievable” she writes. Last week we witnessed a blushing bride and groom goo goo over each other in the innocence of newlywed bliss. (Yes, goo goo is my official word for that). We humans were made with emotions as part of the package. They are literal parts of our physical make up. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t been overcome by some sort of emotion… heaven knows our first cries are emotional outbursts! Which has led to my muse this week: How do Christians deal with emotions?

I read a thought-provoking article on the subject, which made some interesting points and comparisons. Obviously, our emotions — the feelings that drive our passions, our interests, and our pursuits, are stemmed from some sort of emotional response to “things” in our environment. What we like and dislike dictates how we live. Yet, many of us view emotions as problematic. You can’t trust your heart. Emotions are irrational and unreliable. You need more faith. Just trust in God. All will work together for good… Heard any of these before? But our emotional baggage is not simply feelings floating around in our heart… they are influenced by our culture, our experiences, and the time and space we live in. Our culture in 2021 is, I believe, so much more open to expression, interpretation, and mental awareness of our “emotional state” then any other time in history. The question becomes… is this good or bad? Do emotions threaten us in the church? If we have the “joy of the Lord” in our hearts should we shy away from anger, sadness, guilt or depression? Is a feeling of pride good or evil?

Obviously the Bible gives us many examples of “emotional wrecks”… characters who acted (seemingly) irrationally to some emotional trigger. Heart responses to outside stimuli. Humans acting the way humans do. Joseph, David, Sarah, the prodigal son, even Jesus and the disciples. So, what should our response be? And here I will credit the aforementioned article for enlightening my answer… because that trickle of anger is slightly tarnishing my views at the moment. Number one: the Bible makes it clear that we are broken people living in a fallen world. We are not perfect. This world is not perfect. We will not be perfect this side of Heaven. It is a loosing battle to pluck out a set of circumstances and rely on that circumstance alone. Our friends will fail. Our tradition, culture or family background does not make “all things right”. Even our church, our pastor, or the Bible teaching we hear is not foolproof. We can misinterpret and twist things. One just has to look at church history to see the results of that path. Our heart responses are not always correct, but they are a part of how God made us, so we must consider them as valid parts of our existence.

Photo by Tabitha Turner (Unsplash)

As Christians, what we can be certain of, is that our faith will profoundly impact our hearts. The end story of the gospel is what drives us. The hope we have is what allows us to see a different reality, if you will. One that is not always obvious, but “imagined”, or allowed to be seen, eventually. Jesus’ emotional outbursts were examples of always having God’s gospel goal in His vision. God’s character must give us an answer to our emotion. Because He is merciful and loving, we must be comforted in our grief. He is slow to anger, but still just and holy. We must therefore be diligent in not sinning in our guilt or in our anger. We are not the final judge, He is. So. Are we perfect? No. Is God? Yes. Seems like a perfectly logical answer to all our problems, right? Yup, cheers to you, my fellow emotional wreck. Here’s to one more step on the journey.

Faith Journey

Posted on by
2

Do you have a favourite car? I’m not a big car buff, so as long as the vehicle gets me from A to B safely, I’m happy. The eldest and I were chatting about cars recently — she wants a mini cooper. She has yet to get her driver’s license, and is nervous about driving, so thinks a cooper will be “safe” and easy to maneuver. The youngest wants a big truck for the same reasons. So many vehicles out there on the roads. So many choices for travelling. So many arguments and thoughts about what brand, what qualifications, what this, what that. Fuel mileage. Safety features. Electric?

Photo via the Car Connection

Remember the good old days where you shoved all your kids in the back of a big ol’ wood paneled station wagon and went “road tripping”? Seat belts? Not a thing. Car seats, ha! (Not that I am condoning such reckless behaviour…buckle up, people!) Yet, you understand, right? The ultimate road trip was fun. It was exciting to see who would barf first, or get all the alphabet letters in license plate guessing games. And trips back then were screen free! How did we ever survive?? How did our parents survive? And who was in charge of the map? A paper map… that had to be folded back together….

If you’ve followed along at mittonmusings.com for any length of time, you’ve certainly noticed our references to our “faith journeys” or our “spiritual journeys”. Maybe you are wondering what exactly that means. It’s what I’ve been thinking about recently as well. And there is no simple answer. Let’s start with the word “journey”. The simplest definition is this:

“an act of traveling from one place to another” or

“a long and often difficult process of personal change and development”

Oxford online dictionary

Those two statements may not be as simple as they appear. Journeys involve ups and downs and backwards and forwards. Not to mention pit stops along the way. “Faith” adds a deeper and even more complex thought to the definition. Faith in what? Faith in whom? Then we can chat about how does that faith affect the life choices you make on the journey? Spirituality can mean something quite different. I believe humans are intensely spiritual beings. We’ve been designed that way. Consequently, our world is relatively open to “spiritual” things these days. It’s when we draw lines and point fingers that things get complicated. No one wants to be intolerant. And I’m not talking about “church” or “religious beliefs”. Although they certainly play a role in the journey.

Let’s break it down a little more. A road trip begins and ends. There is a point A and a point B. How you get to point B from point A is up to you…. you can take the scenic route up the mountain and through the valleys, or straight across the highway. But the journey always starts with choices. Who or what will be the master of the journey? Who will be in the driver’s seat? Who will you trust to get you to your final destination and where will that be? The crew here at mittonmusings, hopes that driver will be the Christ of the living Bible. It’s who we’ve chosen to be in the driver’s seat of our spiritual journeys that will one day unite us with Him in Heaven. He’s our point A and Heaven is our point B. The Bible is our map and we are making stops along the way to share the experience with you! Are you ready to start the journey? Share with us! Follow along as we chat each week about our journey. And maybe a little bit about our favourite cars!

Photo by Leio McLaren (leiomclaren.com) on Unsplash

Special Verses

Posted on by
2

Welcome back to another week of musing. I thought I’d change it up a bit this time, so instead of my usual little devotional, I’m going to share with you a couple of my favourite verses. The post may be a bit shorter, but I suppose you can never go wrong sharing God’s word. Okay, let’s go!

My first verse has been mentioned in my previous posts, so if you have been with us for any length of time, you’ve seen it before.

” But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Luke 2:19 NIV

Why do I love it? It speaks to my momma’s heart. Here was this young, teenage girl experiencing a life changing event: the birth of her firstborn. Not only would it have been typically life changing, but this birth was crazy different. The young virgin had to share the experience with her baffled betrothed boyfriend and in a barn with a bunch of smelly creatures and a collection of equally smelly shepherds. Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine?

Yet, Mary “treasured” these things up. Locked every detail, every sight, sound, smell into her memory. She would have been a great scrapbooker. Journaling everything in her notebook, capturing the emotion of the moment, so she could share the story later with everyone she met. Still, she pondered them. I suspect it was in a quiet moment, all alone, when Mary was finally allowed to take a second to muse about all that had just happened. And be amazed. It’s a short verse, but it packs a punch, at least for me.

My second block is intertwined in the following passage:

” For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

This one is a long one, but also a significant one for me, as it arrived in a time in my life when I needed to know that God was a God of miracles, and that His plans were perfectly designed for me. It surfaced again recently in a study I’ve been enjoying. The memories flooded back, and I smiled. He strengthens with POWER. His love is UNMEASUREABLE. His abilities are BEYOND IMAGINATION. And it’s FOREVER. I could stop there. I’ll let the verses speak to you, as scripture always does. Amazing how that works, eh? The words speak to you, at this moment, for this time in your life, for now.

I trust you’ve been blessed by my thoughts today. Why not share your favourite verses in the comments? I’d love to hear from you and what you’ve been musing about !