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Letting Go of Unhealthy Emotions

Being led by your emotions (emotional addictions) causes you to make many decisions that often contradict God's plans and purposes for you. To highlight this, we will look at the life of Abraham. He can teach us a lot about fears, which are at the root of all emotional strongholds (addictions) that we experience.

God made some incredible promises to Abram (his name was later changed to Abraham).

"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen. 12:2-3 NIV)

What incredible promises! Yet, we see Abram struggle time and time again with his emotions. We see him make many poor decisions based on fear and doubt.

Most of us would be able to relate to Abram's struggle with the emotion of fear. After all, he had many reasons to doubt God over and over again. God had promised him land, and it fell victim to famine (Gen. 12:10). And despite the promise of many children, he is still childless, well past his prime.

His fears lead to lying about his wife being his sister, not once but twice (Gen. 12:11-13; 20:1-2, 5), and impregnate the Egyptian servant, Hagar (Gen. 16:4). Despite Abram's fears getting the best of him, God delivers him.

"And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife." (Gen. 12:17)

In chapter 15, we see Abram overcome by fear once again. He has just defeated his enemies (Gen. 14:17) and is fearing for his life. As a result, God speaks directly to Abram's fears by speaking directly to his core needs.

Abram needed to feel safe; he needed to feel accomplished and that his legacy would extend beyond him. God spoke directly to those fears by declaring to him that He is his provider and protector by giving him a vision. He tells him that his reward will be great (vs. 1). As important as these needs were, God knows his deepest core fear and spoke directly to it.

"Abram said, 'God, Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?' Abram continued, 'See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all.' To that, God replies: Then the word of the LORD came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.'" (Gen. 15:2-4)

As time passes, we see Abram's faith continue to be strengthened. The ultimate test is when God asks him to kill his only son (Gen. 22:2). Whether or not he is still afraid at this time is irrelevant. God has strengthened his character and deepened his capacity to obey to the level where, whatever God told him to do, he would do! As a result, he received abundant blessings (Gen. 23:15-18).

God used all of his doubts and fears as faith-builders to strengthen his character and teach him how to lean on Him and trust Him. Like Abram, we also have a responsibility to overcome our fears and other debilitating emotions by continually submitting to Him and casting our cares on Him. If we don't break the cycle of letting God heal our emotions, we will pass them on to our children. Isaac, Abraham's (Abram) son, repeats the same pattern and lied about his wife, Rebekah, being his sister (Gen. 26:7).

Like Abram, your fears can seem so overpowering that it may also seem impossible to believe God's promises when you've been disappointed so many times—when it seems like you never achieve your goal. But as you learn to let go and let God fight your battles for you, you will finally experience His peace, joy, and freedom.

Action Steps

Identify some of the poor choices you've made in the past because you acted out of your emotions. Give them to God today in prayer.

Reflect

1. We see how God continued to strengthen Abraham as he learned to trust God. How are you learning to trust God more?

2. Our fears indicate what we need most and also where we trust God least. What were Abraham's needs from God? What are your needs from God?

3. How did God use all of his doubts and fears as faith-builders?

Prayer

Dear Lord, You're bigger than all of my fears. You're bigger than all of my raging emotions. You're bigger than all of the problems that I experience. I give you all my needs today, Lord—my need for safety and security, my need for peace and joy, and my need to be healthy and whole. I give it all to you. I let go of all of my plotting, scheming, cajoling, manipulating, and compromising to lose weight. It's cost me too much, and it's kept me from truly trusting you. So I recommit to you today. I give you all my anxiety, worries, and overwhelm, and I put on your peace and rest. Thank you for these precious gifts. In your name, I pray. Amen!