Soul Wrestling By Cortney Donelson

Photo Cred: www.expertbeacon.com

I’ve often said that our feelings are the color commentators of our lives. They give meaning, direction, information, and as I have repeatedly uncovered in my own life, a clearer understanding of why some circumstances transpire while others do not. 

Our emotions make up the middle third portion of our three-part souls. Our thoughts and our wills (choices) create the bookends. It’s our feelings that can greatly influence our opinions and decisions. I believe it’s also a prime entry point for the enemy to slip in and wreak havoc in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Let’s imagine there are two “spiritual systems” for how things happen. The first is that God ordains them. He sets circumstances into motion to fulfill His great will. He strategically arranges events, meetings, outcomes, and ideas in the form of promptings. Just as a grand master of chess looks twelve moves ahead for the win, God is continually paving the way for us to experience His goodness and discover our individual purposes.  

The second system involves the enemy, unleashed in his very own playground – this world. At least initially, Satan is the grand schemer and implementer of events. While circumstances stemming from this system do not go unnoticed by God, He neither directly causes them nor apparently prevents them. These circumstances trickle through God’s sovereign fingers, as He allows them to happen, knowing He’ll ultimately work them out for His glory. Think of Job. 

As events transpire in these two systems, Satan often attempts to become the handler of our unbridled emotions. If successful, there is a hindrance to our spiritual growth. His goal is to trick us into thinking and acting against our divine purposes. How does he do this? Oftentimes, he swindles us into believing our feelings are paramount. He seeks to convince us we must act swiftly when confronted with them. His hope is that we will react apart from our thoughts and certainly without the Holy Spirit’s influence. He aims to remove the bookends and the central Light of our souls. So, even if our circumstances are a direct result of God’s divine design, the enemy may still be at work. 

As life unfolds, these opposing systems continue their confrontational dance. The battle rages in our souls as well on a spiritual plane we cannot see. How do we discern which of the two systems are behind our struggles? How can we be on guard against the enemy and his schemes yet not miss the significance of the struggles directly planned by God? After all, God’s Word teaches us to put on the whole armor of God to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11) I believe the answer lies in our deep places – among our feelings. Since God decisively made our souls three-dimensional (thoughts, emotions, and wills), our feelings can’t be bad. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1 Timothy 4:4) It’s the decisions we make, the actions we take, and the behaviors we exhibit from of those emotions that lead to goodness or wickedness. 

If we react without prayer – if we fail to tap into our spiritual center – then it might be safe to say that the enemy has slipped into his comfortable and hidden spot in our souls to work his own intentions. If, on the other hand, we use our feelings as mere indicators that we have perceived something as bad, and we immediately turn inward and take our emotions to the Lord, pray about our responses, and then seek truth in love as we act, chances are, we will operate in God’s will, as part of His plan. So, in the end, the question ultimately becomes, does it really matter where the difficult circumstances come from? Is there any significant advantage in knowing which spiritual system is at work? If the devil wants to influence our decisions through our emotions regardless of who planned the trial, and if ultimately, God will turn everything to beauty and victory is His, isn’t our responsibility the same – to respond through prayer and not out of emotions?

But, what if we are on the receiving end of someone else’s poor choices? How can we be sure their decisions and behaviors, which are negatively affecting us, are done with prayerful intentions rather than from emotional reactions? Unfortunately, we may never know if their decisions and actions were based on their prayers or their feelings. That is ultimately between God and them. However, we can know that God makes everything good – even those things hatched from the enemy’s playground or in another person’s soul wrestling.

I struggle most when difficult circumstances find those closest to me. The easiest assumption to make is that these trials are enemy attacks. I cannot imagine a loving God causing (what I determine to be) harm to my loved ones. It’s easier to believe people are operating out of their feelings and not taking their emotions to the Lord to determine the best course of action. It’s easy to blame. I simply assume the enemy is involved or that people are “just uncaring.” The reality is, I may never know their hearts, their motives, or – most importantly – their godly appeals. I may never understand that the struggle they created for my loved one was based on prayerful consideration and is part of a bigger picture only God sees and understands. 

Rather than assuming every bad outcome was generated by the devil’s schemes, it may be more spiritually mature to realize that God’s holy strategy may involve unplanned obstacles in order to sharpen our resolve, build our character, turn us from the wrong path, or unleash our spiritual gifts. We should praise Him through every struggle. As long as we use prayer first, most, and last as we walk through difficult times, we can be assured we walking out God’s purposes for our lives. Paired with the promise that God will work everything for His glory no matter the source of the pain, we should be praising Him through every difficult season or circumstance.   

Easier said than done...

Prayer: Father God, help me focus on godly responses rather than react out of emotional overload. Thank you for every trial. After all, you will make it good regardless of the source of the trial. Help me forgive those who may be acting out of emotions as part of the devil’s scheming, for “they know not what they do.” And, please forgive me when I do the same. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Influenced by my role as mom, my marriage story, Romans 8:28, John 10:10, Job 1:12, Matthew 10:29, Isaiah 10:5, 10:7, and Amos 3:6. 

©2012-2016 Cortney Donelson. All rights reserved.

Cortney's book, Clay Jar, Cracked: When We're Broken But Not Shattered is available now at www.cortneydonelson.com! It will be available world-wide in bookstores and libraries through Morgan James Publishing when publicly released on March 7, 2017. Visit www.cortneydonelson.com for more information and to learn about the "I'm a Clay Jar" Encourager Class for groups! To schedule speaking engagements, please email Cortney directly.