All the Feels: Discover Why Emotions Are (Mostly) Awesome and How to Untangle Them When They’re Not

by Elizabeth Laing Thompson

picking up a book with the word feel in the title is already making you twitchy

There is a time for everything—and a season for every feeling. Much as we may hate the dark feelings, much as we may long to avoid them, even the dark feelings have their place.

Guilt holds the power to save or destroy, to lead us to redemption or drive us insane.

Yes, alarm and longing and concern are all emotions, but they are emotions with purpose and forward motion. They lead us to do something: repent. (Hold that thought—in a moment we’re going to do a deeper

Prayer is more than a duty, more than a spiritual discipline—it is an invitation. An invitation from God to you.

Now I ask you to enable me to follow through, and I leave this [worry/fear/insecurity/problem/situation/person] with you—in your capable hands.

Being fascinated means you lean into the questions instead of running from them. It means you embrace the questioning part of yourself as an integral part of your character, your faith, and the way you relate to God. It means you understand that God made you a deep thinker and that he will work with you as you deepen your faith. As you draw near to God—asking questions, studying, thinking, and praying—God will draw near to you.

I truly believe that our faith will be stronger if we wrestle through it than if we accept everything without study or thought. Our faith will be more complex and nuanced because of our questions. And believe it or not, our doubts can also help others.

Does this role or position bring out the best in me? Why or why not? Do I like the person I am when I fill this role? Am I the Christian I want to be when I hold this role? Am I the friend/roommate/student/spouse/parent/caretaker I want to be? Why or why not? Is the stress inherent in this role something I can learn to manage by disciplining my thought patterns and implementing healthy boundaries (emotional boundaries, time boundaries, etc.)? Are the rewards of this position (and remember, rewards come in many forms—relational, emotional, occupational, financial, and so on) worth the emotional cost?

God expects us to repent when we sin, and he wants us to grow in the way we handle adversity.