Emotional Storms

One of the biggest blessings in my life right now is my Family and Marriage Counseling class. God's timing is so graciously perfect because this class is exactly what I need right now. Let me explain. I have been battling stress - big time. The smallest tasks seem monumentally difficult for me. I am easily overwhelmed and I get frustrated over nothing.

After reading my textbook last week, I found out that I am in an "Emotional Storm." It's a place in life where simple emotions seem complex and difficult. My text describes 6 causes of emotional storms - mine is transition. Transition from single to married life. Transition from working at a Chick-fil-A that's been open and established for a couple of years to a brand new one. Transition from living in an apartment to being a home owner. Transition of schools, transition of majors. In the past two years, I have experienced 5 major transitions. No wonder life seems a bit overwhelming!

Living in an emotional storm has made me feel powerless. I feel like I have no control over my stress, no control over my reactions to stress. I have felt weak, and I have felt weak about being weak. Know what I mean? Seeing ourselves overwhelmed can be frustrating. We think to ourselves, "Seriously, Sarah, this isn't that hard." Or "Of all things, that's what made you angry?" We beat ourselves up for not being able to control our reactions. We tell ourselves we're better than this. We tell ourselves we're being silly or petty.

If little things are setting you off, it's probably not little things that are setting you off. It's little things that are bringing out the emotions you're trying to swallow. I had to sit down and come up with all of my big and little emotions. (My book describes them as primary and secondary emotions.) Let me give you an example:

Secondary (little) emotions: frustration, exhaustion, annoyance
Primary (big) emotions: fear (mostly in the form of worry), anger, and powerlessness

When we reach down deep and are honest with ourselves about what we feel, we sometimes see some ugly stuff. I didn't know I was angry. I didn't know I worried as much as I do. The beautiful part about primary emotions is that recognizing them is the first step towards healing. You can't find an antidote without knowing the poison, right? My easiest emotion to heal was powerlessness, because it is rooted in truth. Yes, I am powerless. I am a sinner. I am designed to mess up - it's part of human nature. I am powerless against the elements, powerless against events in my life, powerless against the attacks of Satan, when I try to do it all alone. But I don't have to do it alone. God allows us to be powerless so that He can be powerful. He allows us to be needy so we can turn to Him. We can do ALL things THROUGH CHRIST! I am not powerless against my stress. I am not powerless against my exhaustion.

I would guess that one of the worst emotions associated with stress is powerlessness - because we feel that whatever is creating our stress is outside of our control. I know I can't be the only person out there watching life fly by at a billion miles per hour. I know I'm not the only one grasping at anything to hold on to - anything that we can control. I'm not a particularly controlling person (or at least I like to think so) and I'm struggling with that. To my friends who are stressed out, feeling powerless, feeling alone, feeling bombarded, know that you are not alone. Whatever your primary feelings are, and whatever the reason is that you're feeling them, please know that you are not powerless against them. Christ knows the depth of our hearts, and He knows what you need to heal. Seek Him and He will provide a way out. 1 Corinthian 10:13 says that God always provides a way out - He never makes us endure more than we can bear. You don't have to be overwhelmed or controlled by your emotions. You are not powerless against them.

By the way, my "textbook" is just a regular, Christ-centered book that I highly recommend to anyone who wants to know more about themselves. It's called Why You Do The Things You Do and it's by Dr. Tim Clinton and Dr. Gary Sibcy.