consuming fire.

why are we, as followers of Jesus, so afraid of our emotions?

not our fluffy, surface emotions, but our deepest, blackest, most powerful emotions. emotions like

fury.

lust.

deep loneliness.

jealousy.

and despair.

the world seems to think that when we feel these kind of deep emotions, we are to restrain them, because a follower of Jesus should not battle with things like LUST, or LONELINESS, or DESPAIR.

but to shove something aside is let it continue to control you, and when we fear our emotions, that means they have a power in our lives that they shouldn't. until we take the lid off and allow our emotions to be dealt with honestly, they will continue to drain us of energy and confuse our perspectives from the dark and shadowy corners of our souls where they reside.

facing our emotions, when done with and in the presence of Jesus, does not push us away from the Father, but hurls us at Him with deepest force.

if we battle this lust, this loneliness, this doubt, at the feet of the Father - if we let Him be a part of the process and the conversation - then our wounds will be bound up, our healing will come, and our perspective will be true.

there is much to be learned from our most powerful emotions. we do not serve a God of light and fluffy characterisitics.

our God is a consuming fire.

He is zealous. He is jealous. He is passionate and powerful and true.

and when we feel these things in ourselves and let Him channel our emotions into things that are good and pure and holy, we will not only understand Him better, but we will be changed.

bring them - your pain, your loneliness, your desperation, your despair, your doubt, your fury -to the feet of the Father.

be honest before Him in prayer.

feel what you feel and let Him teach you.

He understands our struggles.

He is not afraid of our darkness.

His pure and fiery attributes are stronger than anything that we can throw at Him.

let Him refine you today.

do not hide from Him who you truly are.

be honest.

be true.

He will wrestle it with you.

He will bind it up.

He will make it into something good,

something new.

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"therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” -hebrews 12, deuteronomy 4.