25 Days For Peace--Day 4. Let’s Hold Hands

As I was pulling up to my house this afternoon I noticed the lack of snow, the bright sun and for a moment I thought “it feels like April not December.” It is December though, regardless of how it “appeared” outside, regardless of how I felt in the moment.    

Feelings. I’m not a fan. Feelings are misleading, confusing, and constantly changing—feelings are often void of peace. Nope, not a fan of feelings. Which is complicated because I’m a very emotionally based person. I FEEL everything and express much through the feeling part of my brain. I’m often using phrases like “Well, I feel…” and “I’m feeling…” and “that feels like…” on and on. But feelings are not TRUTH and feelings should never be the foundation of our decisions.

Easier said than done, right?

When I think of my journey this far I can see a history littered with wrong turns because of my feelings. I felt it, I did it. Today I am happy to say I’m not like that—to the degree I feel it and then I process through it. Today I make a concerted effort to make my decisions from a place of truth, reason, and far from feelings. I do. However, the feelings still exist. Last night I was up most of the night battling feelings. Feelings are strong and that is why we must center ourselves on something greater than us, stronger than our feelings, and certainly something more level-headed. (Texting a sappy and dare I say desperate sounding message at 2am is NOT level-headed)

So, how do we move out of feelings to a place of PEACE? How do we center ourselves on truth? Instead of texting last night, I put my phone down and folded my hands. Often the folded hands represent prayer but in that moment, for me, it represented my fingers interlocking with the fingers of Jesus and as I closed my eyes I imagined all the emotion I had inside of me, all of the longing and confusion and hope pouring into Jesus. I felt my fingers, I felt my hands, and I let myself feel Jesus. 

Peace is something we sometimes have to look for in the sense that we have to shift our mind from our emotions. We have to make a true effort to rise above “I FEEL!” and let Jesus say “I AM.”  The next time you’re searching and searching for answers, the next time you’re tempted to send a text hinted with desperation, the next time you’re making a decision with “it feels right” I encourage you to step back, lock fingers with Jesus and let His feelings (which are never wavering) replace yours. 

Hold His hand…find His peace...and then make wise choices.