How to Control Your Emotions Week 2 Blog Link-up Party

Is it just me, or has Week 2 flown by?! Honestly, this has been a tough week. My emotions have been up and down as I've dealt with struggles my son has faced this week. You see, he has Asperger's Syndrome, OCD, and ADD. Bless his heart, this has been a tough week for him and for me as his mom. His anxieties have stressed me out and made me cry out to God on his behalf. I've been all over the place with my emotions. 

This week's reading was Chapter 2 How to Overcome Lies With the Truth. It's exactly what I needed to get me through this tough week!

Here are some quotes from this chapter that made a huge impact on me this week.

I'd spent so much time on my knees about the things that were wrong that I'd forgotten to look at the things that were right.


And yet, as my emotions went from 0 to 10 in a matter of seconds, I realized I had done the same thing—overlooked the good for the bad.


My feelings escalated based on the reality of what I was currently seeing, and it took the Word of God to bring a new reality. 

These three quotes remind me to look for the good even in the midst of trying times with my son, and to look at these situations through the lens of God's Word so that the truth can shine through the lies that seek to send my emotions in a downward spiral.

More quotes from Chapter 2...

Romans 8:6 says, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Doesn’t this verse perfectly describe the challenge we face in getting past our own emotions? Almost every time I get caught in a difficult situation my emotions rise up from the ashes threatening to consume me, and I’m left with a serious choice: set my mind on Jesus and His never-changing truths, or choose to believe the lies instead.

Setting my mind on the Spirit—that gift of God that is able to work in me making me more like Jesus—brought back my peace, and helped me see God’s reality instead of my own. Feel, Know, Do.

Really, what I want you to understand, friends, is that what we can see and feel are often entirely different from God’s reality—the true reality.

What amazing insight these final three quotes from How to Control Your Emotions So They Don't Control You (a mom's guide to overcoming) have brought to me this week!

Finding Truth

Here's the truth I came away with in this week's reading:

When I look at life's circumstances through the lens of the Word of God, my flawed perception of reality is changed by the truth of God's Word. I can trust that God is in control and that everything He has said in His Word will come to pass in His time.

Focusing on the Good 

Remember our challenge this week? In my post on Monday, I asked you to focus on what your son is doing that is good. As I've typed the words for this post, thoughts of the struggles my son and I have had this week have raced through my mind, and the Holy Spirit brings one very important "good thing" to the forefront of my mind about my son. 

He is going to God in prayer!

 

This week as he has battled with anxieties he has prayed to God asking Him for help. Our bedtime routine includes reading two Psalms and praying - first my son prays and then I pray for him. When these anxieties began to overtake him at the beginning of this week, my son's prayer brought tears that I could not hold back. My heart broke for him as he cried out to God. I couldn't believe the prayer that was coming out of his mouth! It literally moved me to tears. He has continued to powerfully pray for himself every night this week. The fact that he is learning to go to God in prayer does my heart good. It's what I hope will come to my mind in those moments when my emotions need to come under the truth of God's reality and not my own.


Learning to Overcome,

Laurie


I can't wait to read your thoughts from this week's reading! Please link up your blog post using the Inlinkz tool or share in the comments section below. I'll see you back here on Monday for Week 3!