How to Master Your Emotions by Surrendering to God

Sometime ago, I came across a video where Tekena Ikoko was explaining the concept of feeling and in his analysis he said nobody can make you feel what you are feeling except you choose to continue to feel what you are feeling, he went further to say our emotions as human actually last for only 6 seconds and anything we feel after that 6 seconds is actually a choice we made and he concluded with the fact that we are not in control of that 6 seconds but what happened after that 6 seconds is a choice.

 

This video made me take a seat and have a conversation with myself. In my thoughts, I examined how as humans, we feel like our emotions is something we can't control cos sincerely I've harbour so many feelings for days infact week and here I am hearing that it's a choice not a default thing.

This made me reflect on so many things like the story of Cane and Abel and the reason why God held Cane responsible for killing Abel as human though not justifying the fact that Abel did a right we could say Abel didn't do it intentionally but because he was sad and jealous of his brother prompted him to kill him but looking at it in a more enlightened way I realized it was actually a choice and his fleshy desires that pushes him into such.

As human our human desire isn't something we can outpower but something we can choose to outpower but this can't be achieved unless we have learned to let our feelings and emotions bow before God regardless of the situation.

The story of David give us a clearer understanding on the fact that it is possible to choose to let our emotions bow before God.

When David found Saul sleeping in the temple he could have allowed his rage and feeling take the best of him and kill Paul but he submitted his feelings to God and look beyond his humanly feelings.

Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane show us that it is possible to choose to subject our human feelings to God in the book of Matthew 26:38.

The humanity in him wanted to give up on the purpose of his coming to earth, he didn't deny the fact that those feeling are there infact he expressed them but then he comes to the conclusion of subjecting them to the lordship of God.

Feelings can be honest reflections of what we are experiencing, but they are not always accurate reflections of reality. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

Our emotions can swing wildly based on circumstances, hormones, stress, or misunderstandings. If we allow our feelings to dictate our beliefs or actions without submitting them to God, we can easily be led into fear, bitterness, pride, or despair.

Our life as christian is built on faith, trust in what God has said, not just in how we feel at any given moment. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as, "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

There will be times when our feelings tell us, "God is distant," "I am not enough," or "There is no hope." But faith holds fast to the Word of God, which says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

When we insist on clinging to our feelings e.g. anger, hurt, fear, resentment, we become enslaved to them. But when we surrender our emotions to God, we invite Him to heal, transform, and lead us into freedom. Romans 8:6 says, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." Letting our feelings bow before God doesn't mean suppressing them; it means placing them into His hands and allowing His Spirit to govern our responses.

Some Biblical references on how and why we need to subject out feelings to the lordship of God:

• 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
• Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV): "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
• Galatians 5:16-17 (NIV): "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh." 
• Psalm 42:5 (NIV): "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Here, the psalmist acknowledges his feelings but commands his soul to trust in God instead of remaining in despair. In conclusion, feelings are not enemies; they are messengers that can drive us closer to God when properly surrendered.

Conclusion

As I wrap up, I must say that as Christians, we are called to bring every thought and every emotion into submission to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). When our feelings bow before God, we are free to live not as slaves to our emotions, but as children of a faithful Father whose truth is greater than anything we feel. In the end, letting our feelings bow before God is an act of trust, love, and worship and it leads us deeper into the abundant life Jesus promised.