'Uninvited'
Have you ever had an emotion that was so uninvited you cringed as you realized it was coming upon you? When you felt that you had no choice at all and were helpless to defend yourself from it taking over. And worse yet, is that you acted upon it. Maybe you screamed at your spouse, your kids, or your boss. Maybe you began to obsess over food, a person, or an item you had to have or you'd die. (maybe not die, but you know what I'm saying) Well that very emotion has happened not once but a few times to me. Each times, I was forced to purge that emotion and literally cut it out of my mind. It was very very hard. It's not like seeing a commercial and thinking, "oh that's nice, I'd like to try that". It's intense and almost paralyzing, or in some cases electrifying. Sadly, much like a weed, emotions this powerful you can't ever get to root of.....give it time, and it will be back.
Now you can do the usual things like, try to forget (which doesn't work), get busy with work and other things (this works for a while, but never long enough), so you can just give in hoping that over indulgence will somehow numb you to it, and soon enough you'll no longer want it; like working at your favorite restaurant so you won't eat the food there. None of these methods work. Inevitably the feeling returns and your mind and heart are scalded by them once more.
So what can you do? The only logical and practical thing to do is to pray, pray, and then pray some more. Also, and I'm paraphrasing here, remember the words of that great puritan writer John Owen which say, "The person who understands the evil in his own heart is the only person who is useful, fruitful, and solid in his beliefs and obedience. Others only delude themselves and thus upset families, churches, and all other relationships. In their self-pride and judgment of others, they show great inconsistency."
This quote is excellent, and real, and true, and scary. The person that does not understand the evil in his own heart, muat be a sad and wretched person indeed. Without such understanding you cannot understand true grace, true forgiveness, true mercy, and true love. It's only when we acknowledge to our very own souls that our inner most being is dark and on the brink of madness, that the beautiful re-birth of consciousness and soul can take place. Our disillusionment about life is a result of not reconciling the bad we've be born into and contributed to, with the amazing blessing given and shown to us despite everything.
That was a bit off topic, but all that was to say that in order to grasp true and complete control of our emotions is to surrender to Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. He alone is the One who can give His Holy Spirit to us, so that by His power we are able to overcome such things. You may get mad, even irritate at reading this, but the purpose was not to offend, however that is almost always the case when truth is presented.
Sit, ponder, and pray and you will see that Jesus is the only way to true joy, freedom from the clutches of depraved thinking, and life.
