Paying Attention to God

Read Genesis 1:1-2:3. We are made in God’s image. Every aspect of our humanity is made after God. That includes our physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and social dimensions. If we neglect any of these, it has destructive consequences.

Many Christians are taught to approach life and God through fact and faith. What is important is what we believe and what is true. These are important, of course. But this teaching often leads us to ignore – even suppress – our feelings, our emotions. “Bad feelings” like anger are dangerous, we are led to believe, and must be stuffed back down inside ourselves, never to become exposed.

But God works through these feelings and emotions too. We only have to read the psalms to see that! God can meet us in our sadness, in our depression and in our anger. He lovingly comes to us when we experience these emotions and speaks to us. He offers us the invitation to change through those experiences.

When we understand this then a revolutionary transformation can take place. It can transform our discipleship as a follower of Christ, it can change our marriages, our parenting, our friendships and even our churches!

THINK IT OVER

Think about the following:

•What does your physical body tell you about your feelings? Do you ever have a knot in the stomach, a tension headache, grind your teeth, have sweaty palms or difficulty sleeping?