How are you feeling?

I haven't posted in a few days, as I've been out of town, but now that I'm back, I wanted to share something the Lord has put on my heart lately. It is the issue of feelings-or should I say, letting those feelings dictate actions. Our feelings are God-given and all of us feel sad, angry, or jealous at times. The question is, how do we react when we feel these things? Do we choose to act rudely or unkind to others because of what happened? I am ashamed to admit, I have done this far too often. It is so easy to blame our situation or others' behavior for our sin. In fact, we could probably find many others to agree with us. After all, who would blame a wife for complaining when her husband just won't pick up his clothes off the floor? Or who would fault a mom for yelling at her kids when they consistently misbehaved that day? Probably not many, but God still says it's wrong. Sadly, it's just so easy to blame our situation for our wrong behavior, so we do it. So what are we supposed to do? I mean, when someone is rude to us, can we really respond in love? Yes, but only with the Lord's help. I don't know about you, but it's not a natural thing to respond lovingly when someone has been unkind! Only God can help me do that! It's also possible to have a thankful heart when someone does something that makes me angry. What amazing things we can do when we allow the Lord to work through us! Not in our own efforts, but because of Him! Jeremiah 17:9 tells it very well- "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" It is a mistake for me to trust in my feelings or to follow what my heart says-it will only mislead me- rather, my trust needs to be in the Lord-He is the truth!