Dear Sister,
There is something I have been thinking about a lot lately. I have observed in the lives of many who started out to serve the Lord that their commitment to their calling is very fragile. When the initial excitement is over, a co-worker offends them, they disagree with an assignment or difficulties come, they want to leave the battle. I believe with all my heart that God wishes for all of us to fulfill our calling. Practically, this means that we need to be faithful—to whatever call we received—for the next 20, 30 or 50 years.
I’d like to think that you are doing well. But just in case you struggle, this letter is for you. Perhaps you not only feel discouraged, but it is impossible for you to imagine surviving on your mission field even another month. You have faced so many difficulties and personal struggles that you have decided to leave the team or you have convinced your husband to move back to the place you both came from. All these circumstances have heavily influenced your emotions. You feel lonely, you are overwhelmed with demands and you miss your former lifestyle and friends.
But what about the call of God you received? Didn’t you set out to serve Jesus for the rest of your life? What happened?
You allowed your emotions to make ministry decisions!
If we want to survive in the ministry, it is important for us to understand two things about our emotions:
1. How powerful they are; and
2. The place they must have in our lives as followers of Christ, so they will not become a hindrance to our calling.
God gave us emotions when He created us in His own image. It’s truly a wonderful gift that enables us to experience life, enjoy the beauty of nature, build intimate relationships with others and respond to our God with our heart. We are capable of feeling and expressing love, joy, peace, tenderness, kindness, compassion and gratitude—as well as hate, sadness, fear, pain, discouragement and rejection.
God created each of us with a body, soul and spirit. His original design was that our soul and body be governed by our spirit, which would be in total subjection to our Creator. That way our emotions (which are part of our soul) would be a blessing to ourselves and others, and they would never overpower us and dictate our actions in life. Obedience to God would be the only deciding factor for everything we did.
However, with the fall of man, God’s order got messed up. Man’s spirit was no longer in subjection to God, and for the most part, our soul and body took over the leadership of our life. The appetites of our body and the surge of our emotions became so powerful that we followed them and disregarded God’s Word.
Think about it: Jealousy becomes the reason for spreading false rumors... greed leads to dishonesty, theft and robbery... bitterness, anger and hatred without restraint end up in destruction and murder... rape and adultery are the result of gratifying selfish emotions.
Jesus came to restore what was lost. When we were born again, the Holy Spirit took up His residence in our spirit to empower us to once again bring our whole being—spirit, soul and body—under subjection to God. God’s intent is that from now on, our spirit lives in total obedience to the Holy Spirit and rules our soul and body. If that happens, we will act in obedience to God’s Word and not to our emotions or the demands of our body.
It will not happen by itself. Our body and soul, with all its emotions, have been in charge of our lives for so long that we find it difficult not to obey them. The apostle Paul tells us what to do to succeed in bringing them to the obedience of Christ:
I urge you... to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. ...Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1–2).
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2).
We must declare open war on the demands of our body and soul if they act contrary to the will of God for our lives!
Our obedience to our calling must overrule our emotions. If we don’t learn this, sooner or later we will walk away. Jesus was able to steadfastly set His face toward Jerusalem to face death on the cross because His will and emotions were completely surrendered to the will of God.
Our God does not expect us to be void of feelings; otherwise, He would have created us that way. However, He wants us to get to the place where we choose obedience to His Word and calling above our tears and hurts. Only then can He fulfill His purpose through our lives.
We must count on His grace that is sufficient, even if circumstances don’t change. Paul testified to this in 2 Corinthians 12:8–10. Dear Sister, we will find our greatest fulfillment not in being led by our emotions, but in doing the will of God!
With love and prayers,
Gisela
