Feelings

(Words for a suffering friend who cannot yet hear)

You feel that no one listens to you, but (however you perceive it), we have listened and this is what we have heard. You have said how you feel and have felt*:

empty	discouraged	abused	guilty
numb	disappointed	rejected	shamed
worthless	angry	unlovable	“I have no family.”
hopeless	alone & lonely	distrusting	“No one understands.”
not deserving	bullied	self-loathing

And yet you also say: “I do not need to be ‘fixed’. There is nothing wrong with me.” (An exact quote.)

Dear, dear Friend: Please, please know—there was only ONE person ever born into this world who did not need to be “fixed.” ALL the rest of us desperately need fixing¹ (healing) with His help and by His grace, WITHOUT exception.

You have also said: “I cannot help the way I feel,” but that is one of the great and chief deceptions of the adversary and is contrary to the Word of God and to passing this mortal probation.

We are here in large measure to manage (control) our feelings with God’s help; NOT for our feelings to manage (control) us.

IF natural feelings were the true measure, there would have been:

▪ No atonement

And [Jesus] went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matthew 26:39);

▪ No Moses or Joshua to lead the Children of Israel because these prophets (like most all the others) felt afraid, insecure, unworthy, inadequate, & so forth;

▪ No Esther to save a nation (& hundreds of other examples).

IF “true” feelings were to govern, there would be:

▪ No loving of one’s enemies
▪ No forgiveness
▪ Fewer tithes and offerings
▪ Less Sabbath observance
▪ More pride and narcissism
▪ Less confession and repentance
▪ More pursuit of the things, praise, and approval of the world (The Three Temptations)
▪ & so forth

Almost nothing of God’s will would be accomplished in this life if we were governed by our feelings, because we ALL must overcome the natural man / woman:

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:19)

We make right choices according to God’s Will and Word, often against how we feel, because God gives us the strength to do His will; to keep our promises and covenants when we have no strength or feeling for it.

▪ We feel hungry, yet we fast.
▪ We feel angry, yet we strive to be kind, compassionate, and forgiving.
▪ We feel afraid, but we commit to walk in His Word and Will.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10)

Satan wants us to feel guilty for what others have done to us or have wrongfully blamed us for.

Satan wants us to feel condemned and rejected for mistakes and sins, when Jesus has already paid the price if we will just confess our wrongs and weaknesses and ask for His help and forgiveness.

Satan wants us to think peace and happiness are to be found in changing our circumstances instead of changing ourselves, our perceptions, our attitudes, our pursuits.

Beloved Friend: please, do as Jesus did when he was tempted / attacked by Satan (Luke 4). After each encounter, the Savior responded, “It is written, …”; (and then He quoted scripture); SO when you have feelings like anger, worthlessness, emptiness, etc.—feelings that have been recycling in your life for decades—feelings that do not have their source in God—know that you are under attack, and then counter those negatives and lies, ten-thousand times ten-thousand, if necessary, with the power of God’s word:

… the worth of [my] soul is great in the sight of God; (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 18:10)

… for in his strength I can do all things; (Alma 26:12; 20:4)

Find words of God that counter Satan’s emotion-based lies—find words that sustain gospel values and flood your mind with those words of truth to drown-out the whisperings, lies, distortions, and confusions of the adversary.

This is my witness: that whatever burdens you carry, whether self-inflicted or other-inflicted, you are a soul of great worth who yet needs healing—like the rest of us. You are a soul whose mission and purpose must be higher than the pursuits and rewards of this world. God has not brought you thus far or allowed so much suffering in your life, except He has a spiritual place and purpose for you in helping build His kingdom, if you will but see and hear and do.

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1. There are many who say we do not need to be “fixed”; that we are whole and complete as we are; that, like an acorn, we have the “complete tree” within us; BUT if we run this philosophy through scripture, we see that agency can warp the development / perfection of the seed; that because the blueprint shows one thing, the building may end up being constructed quite differently, thus needing to be fixed. As to “affirmation” therapy, that too needs to be run through scripture. God affirms our self-worth, but laments a great deal about the continual déjà vu of His children rejecting Him plan and will as they continually pursue their “our way.” Perhaps “affirmation” of our thoughts, feelings, and actions has done more damage to the plan of God for our lives than we can possibly imagine.

PS: For those who really want more help in healing, the ministry of Joyce Meyer may be eye- and heart-opening.

Re Joyce

Joyce Meyer
from her website

Re:  preposition. ~ in the case or matter of, as regards
Joyce:  name ~ French: Joyeuse. “Joyful.” E.g.: Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries*

How much do we miss by holding to our narrow paradigms? For nigh four decades, Joyce Meyer has been ministering and yet I had never heard of her until April 28, 2015. And so I rejoice to find, what I propose, is the most powerful Christian woman’s voice in the world today. Perhaps, even the most powerful, practical Christian voice, irrespective of gender.

So how many life-changing opportunities do we miss because we don’t have eyes to see or ears to hear? because we are locked inside our narrow cultural biases? because we are bound to conforming / confirming expectations?

In this writer’s view, every soul could profit from listening, time and again, to the witness of Joyce Meyer, whose ministry might be summed up in these words from a well-known LDS hymn:

Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam.
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation
And shortly the hour of redemption will come,

When all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And none will molest them from morn until ev'n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Jesus will say to all Israel, "Come home."

We'll love one another and never dissemble,
But cease to do evil and ever be one
And when the ungodly are fearing and tremble,
We'll watch for the day when the Savior will come,

In faith we'll rely on the arm of Jehovah
To guide through these last days of trouble and gloom,
And after the scourges and harvest are over,
We'll rise with the just when the Savior doth come.

Then all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And they will be crowned with the angels of heav'n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Christ and his people will ever be one.^†

Let us break the déjà vu of self-limiting blinders and stiff-necks and let God’s witnesses come in as many diverse ways as God may venture, like unto what the Apostle Paul wrote when quoting the prophet Joel:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (New Testament | Acts 2:17-18; see Old Testament | Joel 2:28-29; bold emphasis added).

P.S.: As with all ministers of the Gospel, one must always exercise discernment and seek confirmation of the Spirit of the things they teach and interpretations they put forward. If there is one serious omission in most Christian and evangelic teachings (including Joyce), it is well described in Dallas Willard's The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teaching on Discipleship.

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* https://www.joycemeyer.org/ In addition to the JM Ministry website, there are many YouTube videos.
† "Now Let Us Rejoice" ~ Text: William W. Phelps, Music: Anon.; Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985], no. 3.)