ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

There once was a Sunday School teacher who despaired when a faithful member of her class stopped attending. For years, the teacher grappled with the possibility that she was to blame, discovering years later it was the lady’s husband that kept her from attending. I’ve blamed myself and been blamed by others when people quit attending our church, when in fact it’s often a different matter altogether. And, if I’m not careful, I’ll get snared by the following: PityTrap –Elijah threw a pity party, at which he was the guest of honor, albeit the only attender. Justifying himself before the Lord, the prophet said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsakenYour covenant, torn downYour altars and killedYour prophets with the sword.And I alone am left” (1 Kings 19:10). Elijah was, in fact, among 7,000 prophets who remained (see 1 Kings 19:18), but who’s counting when you’re soaking in a bath of self-pity? If discouragement and depression led you into this, or any of these other traps, counteract by administer the treatments. Take care of your physical needs. Elijah’s emotional struggles stemmed in part from physical deficiencies. Realizing the prophet’s state of hunger and fatigue, God sent an angel two times to urge Elijah to eat. (see 1 Kings 19:5,7). God has designed us in such a way that there is an inseparable connection between body and soul, the physical and spiritual.And even though the bodies we now possess are temporal, we must still do our best to take care of them.As Paul writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). I’m convinced that many emotional and physical struggles begin at the physical level. Careless eating habits and lack of sleep during our younger years take their toll as we age. A physical therapist told me recently that “motion is lotion.”

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