Are Your Feelings Defining Your Faith?
Join me for a guest post on the art of living by faith rather than our emotions at Lucinda Secrest McDowell. Start here and then click over to her lovely blog to read the rest of the post.
I’ve updated this post in memory of Lucinda, who passed away in March, 2023 after a month long battle with cancer. She is deeply missed-a wise and kind-hearted soul. I’m so thankful I had the chance to interview her. I’m also glad that she leaves us a legacy of wisdom through her books!
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Living by faith rather than our emotions is often easier said than done. Just this morning, I had to remind myself that my feelings do not define what is true.
How about you, my friend? Have you struggled with feelings that make you feel less than, not good enough, or left behind? Have the deluge of bad-news headlines, natural disasters, and the pandemic created a whirl-wind of emotions that make you fearful of the future?
Are you navigating the challenge of virtual schooling while trying to work from home and feeling frustrated that you just can’t do it all? Have your feelings made it hard to live in the truth of who you are in Christ?
Emotionally healthy spirituality is an important part of discipleship.
Most of us struggle on some level to live like who we are rather than how we feel in the moment. Consider a conversation I had with a friend as we grappled with the truth that we really are holy in Christ (1 Peter 2:5,9).
“I sure don’t feel holy. I try to be a great mom, but then I yell at my kids . . . again. Or I get impatient with my husband. My good intentions seem to do me no good as harsh words fly out of my mouth. How can I be holy when I can’t seem to get a handle on frustration and anger? I feel like I’ll never measure up to the person God wants me to be,” Angie said with a sigh.
I could relate to her words, remembering the many times I’ve struggled with the tension between my feels and my faith.
God is at work in you.
We all need frequent reminders that we are God’s work in progress:
Do you feel stuck in the old ways of letting feelings define your value and boss your heart around? When feelings overshadow faith, it creates an internal struggle. Angie didn’t feel holy, but the truth is she is holy and loved in Christ (Colossians 3:12).
It’s tempting measure our spiritual condition based on feelings. Maybe you’ve had thoughts like these:
- I don’t feel like God hears my prayers.
- I don’t feel like God is with me.
- I don’t feel like God really accepts me.
- I don’t feel like I’m saved.
- I don’t feel like I’m free from guilt.
- I don’t feel like . . .
Spiritual growth accelerates as we learn to experience our feelings yet still make the choice to embrace the truth of who we are in Christ.
This guest post has been adapted from Holy in the Moment: Simple Ways to Enjoy Your Life.
Once you’ve entered the Soul Strength Book Bundle Giveaway, hop over to Lucinda’s to catch the rest of this post with a powerful illustration that will help you learn to align your feelings with God’s truth.
Friend, there is freedom, healing, growth, and victory for you when you hold fast to what God says is true of precious you! See you at Lucinda’s!
The book give away is now closed.
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Join us next week for a guest post and author interview with my soul sister, Lucinda Secrest McDowell! I’m thrilled to be teaming up this warm and engaging friend! Seriously, you’re going to love Lucinda! She is an encourager extraordinaire! Here’s a fun picture from last year when I met Lucinda!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means, I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post at no cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.
Wisdom for Living Well on Life’s Journey + Author Interview
Wisdom for intentional living that aligns our lives with God’s truth is the gift of journeying well with God, ourselves, and others. These are the daily building blocks of a whole and holy life. Join me for an author interview with Maggie Wallem Rowe, part of my Books for Life series.
Ahh, the good life we all want.
Isn’t a good life something we all desire? From the psychology that drives today’s multimillion dollar advertising strategies to the daily choices that make up a life well lived, we all long for the best life possible.
Despite our plans, hopes, and dreams, a good life doesn’t just happen. It is created one day at a time, one choice at a time, even one moment at a time. This is a truth that is close to my heart and at the center of my ministry. It is a life-direction that God has worked into my life through the years of overcoming challenges, studying His Word, and following Jesus.
In Holy in the Moment, God have me these words to express the importance of intentional living:
Holiness inhabits the small things, faith for our moments, simple and short. Added together, holy moments change lives and steer destinies in God’s direction. But it all comes down to attitudes and choices made . . . one moment at a time. . . Making intentional choices to trust God is where holiness happens right in the middle of an ordinary day.
A day just like today.
Wisdom to align our lives with God’s truth is the gift of journeying well with God, ourselves, and others. These are the daily building blocks of a whole and holy life.
So often, this is easier said than done, isn’t it? We find ourselves in situations that don’t go according to plan, relationships don’t always go smoothly, the stress of work skews our priorities, or sometimes we feel distant from God. These are the days we need the encouragement of a wise friend to remember that we are not alone.
Meet my friend Maggie Wallem Rowe
Maggie Wallem Rowe is one of those friends we all need along life’s journey. She is someone who writes to remind us of the truths that are easy to forget:
Life has its epic adventures, but the dailiness of it doesn’t consist of grand moments. Rather, we live in the everyday rhythms of the intentional choices we make. Paying attention to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Caring for others and being cared for in return. Loving God and receiving his unconditional live and fathomless grace.
In her new book, This Life We Share: 52 Reflections on Journeying Well with God and Others, Maggie writes about many situations common to life, sharing a life-line of wisdom learned in her own journey with God. Each reflection is beautifully written and Maggie’s personality reaches through the words like the arm of a friend reaching around your shoulders. Here are a few of Maggie’s reminders to choose well in our own journeys.
Not feeling good enough?
“God has designed a unique path for you. No one can walk it as well as you can.”
Struggling to shed shame?
“Shame does not come from God. In Christ the bonds that tied you to past pain have been broken. Walk in freedom.”
Trying to kick anxiety to the curb?
“Worry and concern can feel like conjoined twins, but prayer has the power to sever the connection.”
Joy eluding you?
“We cannot generate feelings of joy out of sheer will power, but we can stay connected to the Source of all joy.”
Searching for peace in a painful situation?
“Peace in the midst of pain is not just possible–it’s a promise!”
Tired of waiting?
“Sometimes what we wait for is not as eternally significant as what God wants to do in us as we wait.”
Hoping for a positive outcome?
“God lives in the gap between what could have been and what is. Leave the outcome to him. “
Last week I had the chance to catch up with Maggie for a special conversation on journeying well with God and others. We chatted about what it’s like to publish your first book at 67 and the power of legacy books. I define a legacy book as a collection of a life-time of wisdom and truth learned from years of walking with God. This kind of book gives us a big picture view of lessons learned over many years, wisdom we can garner in a few hours of reading.
We also talk about the challenge of overcoming insecurity and many of the struggles that are common all of us. Many thanks to Maggie for taking time to share with us!
As you can tell, I’ve really enjoyed reading This Life We Share! One of the blessings of being an author that I love is getting to know other writers and their books. It is a joy and privilege to share carefully chosen books that align with my heart and message with my readers. You can be confident that any book that I share with you will enhance the content you have come to expect from me for spiritual growth by loving God, embracing truth, and enjoying life.
What is one life-line of wisdom that empowers you to journey well with God and others? Have you read a book recently that has encouraged you in spiritual growth?
Recent Posts
5 Simple Ways Silence Can Deepen Your Faith
8 Powerful Ways to Connect with God When He Is Silent
When You Need to Transform Your Thought Life
Do You Struggle with Listening to God?
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means, I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post at no cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.
5 Simple Ways Silence Can Deepen Your Faith + Printable
Discover 5 simple, biblical ways silence can deepen your faith, help you hear God more clearly, and strengthen trust in Him through waiting and uncertainty.
The world is a noisy place in this digital age. Sound becomes the white noise of our souls keeping us distracted and disconnected from God. In Quiet Times, Bible study, devotions, and daily life with Jesus, silence can deepen our faith. Becoming comfortable with silence helps Christian women to connect with God on a more intimate level.
I’ll be honest, silence is the spiritual discipline that comes hardest for me. It’s the holy habit that I rush through and try to avoid. To simply sit and cultivate quiet with God feels like doing nothing and wasting time. Becoming more comfortable with silence is an important growth step on our spiritual journey.
I struggle with silence–
- I don’t like silence when there’s a lull in conversation with others.
- It’s hard to quiet my thoughts and listen to God.
- And most of all, I struggle when God is silent.
One silent minute feels long. Empty. Silence feels like void begging for me to say something, do something, prove something, or produce something. Can you relate?
[tweetthis]Listening and connecting with God extends beyond words.[/tweetthis]
Warring with our fears of unproductively, silence settles our racing thoughts and opens our hearts to listen to God.
I recently shared 8 powerful ways to connect with God when He is silent. Recognizing that God communicates with us in different ways helps us to become more comfortable with silence as a way of engaging with God.
There are times when hearing God comes in the quiet. Remember how God didn’t speak to Elijah in the whirlwind, but in the sound of a gentle whisper? You can read about that in 1 Kings 19:12. Click here to see how “God’s voice” is worded in a variety of translations at a glance.
You can find a free printable version of this Psalm 62:5-8 graphic here.
David, a man after God’s heart, often wrote about silence and seeking God in the Psalms. His words show us how silence can bring us to God on a deeper level.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#solitudeandsilene #relationshipwithgod”]Silence helps us listen to both ourselves and to God in a chaotic, noisy world.[/tweetthis]
In this Psalm, the word wait includes the idea of being silent and still, to hold peace, to rest, or to quiet yourself.
Isn’t it easy for our resistant hearts to equate silence with not hearing? Silence increases our desire to hear from God. As I lean into the discomfort of silence, I’m beginning to relax and trust my Father on a deeper level.
When we embrace silence, we clear our minds of internal chatter and simply wait on God. It doesn’t come naturally, but I’m resisting spiritual ADD and learning to be still on the inside.
Have you noticed how the quiet can awaken you to seek and listen more attentively?
Silence Goes Two Ways
We often think of “waiting in silence” in terms of quieting our thoughts before God, which is an important benefit of silence. When we go through times when God feels distant, “waiting in silence” can also point to the importance of waiting with faith.
Waiting for God is tied to hope, a confident expectation based on His faithful character.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#darknightofthesoul”]We can wait for God because He is worthy of the wait.[/tweetthis]
5 Simple Ways Silence Can Deepen Your Faith
Notice the helpful progression for connecting with God in Psalm 62:5-8. Each step opens the way for the next. Though silence can be uncomfortable, each of these actions empower us to experience greater intimacy with God.
- Be willing to experience silence.
- Wait on God with hope.
- Declare God’s character.
- Decide to trust Him at all times (even the distant or silent ones).
- Pour out your concerns to God.
Sprawl out. Gush forth. To pour out our heart before Him is to let the hurt out, to expose the feelings stuffed down, to meet God in the midst of what we’re really thinking, feeling, and believing.
No hanging back or holding in. Sometimes silence is messy.
Remember God’s Character
Because He is—
- Our hope
- Our rock
- Our salvation
- Our strength
- Our stability
- Our refuge
Our God is trustworthy even in the silence. Even in the fears, doubts, or griefs that assault our souls. Even in the dark night of the soul. He is present. He is faithful. He is near.
Let Silence Connect Your Heart with God
Keep showing up with your heart and Bible open. Reframe silence as an invitation to trust God and pour out your heart. Rather than worry you are getting it wrong, believe God will speak in His timing.
Let this truth strengthen your soul when you struggle with silence: God is working in the silence.
If silence is the first language of God, let Him speak. My soul, wait on God in silence. . . for my hope is from Him.
Friend, are you becoming more comfortable with silence on your spiritual journey? How do you connect with God in silence?
Related Posts
- 8 Powerful Ways to Connect with God when He is Silent
- Discover Six Important Truths About Listening to God
- Do You Have Spiritual ADD?
- Do You Struggle with Listening to God?
- Overcome Three Problems of Careless Listening
- Moments to Pray, Listen, and Think Bring Us Closer to God
Need more resources for emotionally healthy spirituality? Sign up for my Emotional Health Workbook, free with other resources through my newsletter.
Author Bio
Ginger Harrington is a Christian author, speaker, and host of the Habits of Hope Podcast, where she helps women build rhythms of faith that steady them in real life. Through biblical encouragement and practical spiritual habits, she equips women to trust God more deeply in every season. Ginger is the author of Holy in the Moment and writes to help women cultivate hope, peace, and a deeper walk with God.
8 Powerful Ways to Connect with God When He Is Silent
When God feels silent, discover 8 biblical ways to reconnect with Him, strengthen your faith, and trust His presence through dry and difficult seasons.
How do you feel when God seems silent and distant?
As I talk with friends during this time of isolation and staying home, I know that I’m not the only one who has struggled during dark moments of fear, strife, pandemic, and isolation. Many struggles converge as we grow weary of wearing masks everywhere we go.
How can we not feel the impact spiritually?
I longed to sense God speak encouragement and strength to my heart that leaned toward anxious. My earnest longing and seeking was real and true.
Silence.
What?
The situations that influence us emotionally and relationally can also impact us spiritually—after all, we are spirit, soul, and body. We are impacted spiritually by this prolonged time of isolation and fear. The fact that many churches are still not meeting in person is another factor increasing spiritual disconnection.
We rarely talk about seasons of silence when God feels distant. Days when the normal ways we engage with God are disrupted make us feel off kilter. Prayers appear to linger unanswered, discouragement pushes against joy, and waiting provokes doubts and questions.
1. Be honest about what you’re feeling.
We rarely talk about what some have deemed the dark night of the soul. The phrase dark night originated with a 16th century monk, St. John of the Cross. Some call it a spiritual depression. Related terms include a desert time, spiritual dryness, or a winter season. For me, this spring was a time when God appeared to be silent and distant. Many are struggling with various levels of feeling disconnected from God. How are you doing, friend?
It’s important to share your feelings with a supportive friend with honesty. Don’t isolate yourself during times of spiritual struggle.
2. Remember that believing God is a choice not an emotion.
Isn’t it easy to measure our spiritual condition by whether or not we feel close to God? Even when I know better, I still slip into the old ways of relying on my emotions to evaluate my spiritual condition. I have to frequently remind myself of a truth I shared in Holy in the Moment: Believing God is not an emotion. Emotions are not an accurate gauge of your relationship with God.
3. Examine your heart without self-doubt.
Is it my fault? I must be the problem.
My go-to thought was to assume it was my fault. Self-doubt whispered God’s silence must be result of some wrong I’ve ignored. Blaming myself is a tendency of my flesh grown from roots of disapproval and criticism.
The first few weeks I worried.
I fretted.
I examined my heart, confessing any hint of sin I could find.
I need to hear from God. What am I doing wrong?
Prayerful self-examination is always a good first step when your spiritual life loses vitality and connection. We do have a tendency to discount or deny our hurtful actions or misplaced priorities. There are times when we need the search light of the Holy Spirit to show us what’s hidden in our hearts.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).
After a robust heart check, I realized unconfessed sin wasn’t the problem.
4. Don’t be surprised by spiritual warfare.
Next came spiritual attack. The enemy of my soul accused me with thoughts like this: God is displeased with me. I have lost God’s favor. God isn’t blessing me. I can’t trust God to be there for me.
Not true. Not a single lie or accusation of the enemy is true.
What does the enemy whisper in your vulnerable thoughts and emotions when God feels distant? He can be relentless with condemning suggestions to your thoughts. Know that you are vulnerable to spiritual attack during this time. Don’t be surprised by the enemy’s lies and misperceptions.
Recognizing lies and misperceptions is a crucial step to walking in freedom, especially when God seems silent.
5. Stand firm in the truth.
One of the most important ways to navigate a time of spiritual silence or a dark night of the soul is to stand firm in the truth. The word of God is a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare, but it is also a sweet balm to our weary and hurting souls.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8).
Meditate on truths about the character of God and the wonder of your identity in Christ. Don’t allow your circumstances of feelings to preach a false gospel to your heart.
- God is who He says He is.
- He will do what He has promised to do.
- You are secure in your identity as a redeemed and beloved child of God.
6. Trust God with your spiritual condition.
Here’s the truth: God is in charge of our spiritual condition. Our role is to love, trust, obey, and respond to God as best we can, trusting the Holy Spirit to help us.
God is the One who sets the pace for our spiritual growth. When God feels distant, we need to trust He will not stop working. He is even more interested in our spiritual growth than we are.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NASB).
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#darknightofthesoul”] I can trust God with me. You can trust God with you.[/tweetthis]
7. Recognize God communicates in various ways.
Sometimes we’re hearing from God, but we miss the subtle way He works. He doesn’t always answer our questions directly.
God speaks in various ways including His Word, the church, circumstances, godly counsel, and the mind of Christ within you (1 Cor. 2:16).
One of the wonderful roles of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth:
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak… ” (John 16:13 NASB).
Walking one morning, I soaked in the sunshine relieved to get out of the house. I remembered early days of dating my husband when we thrived on great conversations. After 30 years of marriage, we still love to talk, but our relationship has matured over time. We no longer need to be talking or doing something exciting to feel connected and secure in our relationship.
We can sit in silence and it doesn’t mean that something is wrong.
Can it be the same in our relationship with God?
God communicated this truth by bringing a memory and an insight to mind. I was hearing from God through my Spirit-led thoughts. I almost missed “hearing” Him in the jumble of my confusion.
8. Believe God has a purpose in silence.
[tweetthis]”Silence is the often the the first language of God” (St. John of the Cross).[/tweetthis]
Be encouraged with these words from Dallas Willard:
“Among the practices that can help us attend to soul care at a basic level are solitude and silence. . . This discipline can be used of God as a means of grace. In it we may even find another reminder of grace—that we are saved, justified by His redeeming power—not by our strivings and achievements.”
I appreciate what Ruth Haley Barton writes about the role of solitude and silence in our spiritual journey:
“Solitude will do its good work whether we know what we are doing or not. One of the primary functions of solitude is to settle ourselves into God’s presence. . . Most of what happens in solitude is happening under the surface, and God is doing it.”–Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, 41-42
At times, God removes the felt sense of His presence to do deep work in our souls. Silence is part of the shift from communication to deeper communion with God. When we think of it this way, it is easier to embrace the silence. When we experience times of silence, disconnection, or distance with God, be patient and believe God is working.
Friend, how are you doing? How have you been impacted spiritually during Covid-19?
Need more resources for emotionally healthy spirituality? Get this Emotional Health Workbook in the Deeper Life Collection for Subscribers.
You can also find encouragement for listening to God, developing a praying life, and navigating your thoughts and emotions in my book, Holy in the Moment.
Friend, how are you doing? How have you been impacted spiritually during Covid-19?
More Posts on Engaging with God’s Word
- Six Short Devotions to Help You Listen to Jesus + printable version
- When You Long for God to Speak to You
- Simple Ways to Meditate on God’s Word
- 8 Powerful Ways to Connect with God When He Is Silent
- Ignite Your Faith with Simple Truths for Listening to God
- Do You Struggle with Listening to God?
- 10 Benefits of Reviewing What We Learn from God
- Simple Ways Silence Can Deepen Your Faith
- Discover Six Important Truths About Listening to Go
When You Need to Transform Your Thought Life
Negative thinking entraps us in unhealthy mental and emotional patterns. Vulnerable emotions such as anger, shame, anxiety, or resentment alert us to what we are thinking and believing in the moment. This week I’m thrilled to chat with Sarah Geringer about her book, Transforming Your Thought Life: Christian Meditation in Focus. Enter to win a copy of Sarah’s book by leaving a comment at the end of this post! Drawing will be on Friday, June 14th.
Watchman Nee once wrote that “no life can be truly changed without a change of mind.” So true, isn’t it?
Every change in our life begins with a thought. I believe this is one reason why our thoughts are so important and powerful. But changing our thought patterns takes intentional effort and often hard work.
Enjoy some highlights from my Q & A with Sarah on this practical and important topic that we all struggle with on some level.
In addition to this post, you’re invited to join us on Facebook on Friday, June 5 at 12:00 pm for a live discussion with Sarah focusing on dealing with anger.
[wpdevart_youtube]G0hWJ8sJv28[/wpdevart_youtube]
Why do we struggle so much in our thought lives?
Our thought lives form the structure for our words and actions. Every problem we have begins in our thoughts. Since no one else knows our thoughts except God, we think we can hide them. However, what you think in your inward life inevitably spills out onto your outward life.
You can either be defeated in your thought life before you ever take action, or you can transform your thought life with the power of God’s Word. You can have victory in your thought life struggles by meditating on the truths in Scripture.
How do our past experiences relate to current thought-life problems?
Many of us experienced hurt and difficulties in our past that influence our lives now. For example, my parents divorced when I was four years old. The fallout from their divorce has affected nearly every area of my thinking.
As a little girl, I began dealing with negative, anxious, fearful, and critical thoughts in response to the wounds the divorce caused. These thoughts carved paths in my conscious and subconscious mind that still tempt me today.
I have used the power of Scripture to reroute those thought life paths. [tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#negativethinking #transformyourthoughts”]You can reroute your own thought pathways by using key scriptures in specific problems.[/tweetthis]
What does spiritual warfare have to do with thought life struggles?
Satan wants to distract, discourage, and defeat us on the battlefields of our minds. If he can do this, our words and actions will automatically follow his will instead of God’s will.
He sets up strongholds, or power centers, in the pain points of our past, then capitalizes on them in our current thought life struggles.
[tweetthis]When we fight back with the truth of Scripture, we can dismantle those spiritual strongholds.[/tweetthis]
By repeating key verses over and over to yourself, you can break the power Satan may have held over you for decades in your thought life struggles.
How can Christian meditation help someone conquer thought life problems?
Christian meditation is simply focusing on a scripture and thinking about it with intent. The more you focus on God’s Word through meditation, the more you learn about God’s will for your life.
You can apply scriptural truths directly to specific thought life problems and experience freedom. For example, if you struggle with painful thoughts, you can meditate on verses about God’s comfort.
By repeating these verses every time you experience a painful memory, you can begin to reroute the neural pathways in your brain. When you do this over and over, you begin to think differently because God’s truth replaces the lies planted by your enemy Satan.
How does a transformed thought life help someone develop a closer relationship to God?
When you meditate on God’s Word, you are hiding it in your heart and mind. As you learn God’s language of truth and love in Scripture, you will learn more about his character and his ways.
Christian meditation helps you worship God and cultivate a closer walk with him. When you experience the freedom that comes with thought life transformation, you will realize that God deserves credit for setting you free.
Scripture meditation will inspire your adoration, praise and thanksgiving to God. It has the potential to take your faith to new heights in only a few minutes every day.
How has Christian meditation helped you be victorious in spiritual warfare?
I chose 17 areas of thought life struggles to focus on in my book, because I have experienced all of them at different points in my faith journey. In each chapter, I tell stories about how God set me free from a certain thought-life struggle such as guilt, impurity, idolatry, and regret.
When I was struggling in these areas, I did not experience victory until I began meditating upon scriptures that directly counteracted those problems. As I meditated, I recognized how Satan tempted me with the same unproductive thought paths again and again. By replacing his falsehoods with the truth of God’s Word, I experienced freedom for the first time.
Now, I know to fight back immediately with Scripture, just like Jesus did when he was tempted. Through Christian meditation, I have key scriptures in my spiritual arsenal to fight back the moment I’m attacked.
What do you want readers to learn most from Transforming Your Thought Life?
I want readers to learn about the power God’s Word gives us to break free from spiritual strongholds. Many of us have Bibles in our possession, but do not understand how God’s Word literally holds the solution to all our problems.
By internalizing God’s Word in our hearts through Christian meditation, our thought lives can truly be transformed for good.
You can see why I wanted to share Sarah’s book with you! Hope you can join us for the live broadcast or the replay of my interview with Sarah as we talk about dealing with anger in healthy ways. This topic is highly relevant to the challenges our nation faces today.
My Thoughts on Sarah’s Impactful Book
In Holy in the Moment, I devote a chapter to the importance of making healthy and whole choices with our thoughts. In this key area of struggle for each of us, Transforming Your Thought Life is a valuable and in-depth resource.
I loved the way Sarah dived head first into harnessing our thoughts with the life-giving practice of meditating on God’s Word. Sharing many of her own struggles, she tackles challenges from her life with authenticity and courage.
Her candid stories draw us in, helping us to see our own struggles as we recognize our need to filter our thoughts through the lens of Scripture. Sarah guides us closer to God, demonstrating how Christian meditation can transform our thoughts and heal our wounds.
About Sarah Geringer
Sarah Geringer writes and speaks about finding peace in God’s Word. You can follow my blog at sarahgeringer.com or find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Goodreads. Enjoy Sarah’s 14 Day Guided Meditation and Scripture Writing Plan for Overcoming Anxiety.
Win a Copy of Sarah’s Book
What area of your thought life challenges you the most? Leave a comment to enter to win a copy of Sarah’s book.
If this article blessed or helped you today — would you share it with someone? Send it to a friend, family member, coworker, or share it through the links on the right sidebar:) Now more than ever we need to share life-changing content that draws others to Christ.
Do You Struggle with Listening to God?
Join me for helpful a collection of thoughts, tips, quotes, and articles to overcome the struggle of listening to God. Hearing God is a great longing of our souls.
Have you ever wanted to learn to play an instrument? Years ago I dreamed of learning to play the piano. I envisioned my fingers dancing across the keyboard making beautiful music.
And then I started taking lessons. Oh mercy, it was a slow process!
Learning to read music was like learning a new language. My brain was slow to translate the notes to my hands. Fingers stiff and cumbersome, I plodded. I stumbled and plinked, making many mistakes.
Definitely not the beautiful, free-flowing music I had imagined.
When it comes to spiritual growth, learning to listen to God is also a process that takes time, intention, and effort. Because we can’t see God, and most of us don’t audibly hear Him, it can be frustrating to recognize His voice.
Developing our spiritual ears to hear God is much like learning many new skills.
For years, I would hear someone talk about hearing God in a way that made me feel like a second-class Christian. I wondered why God didn’t speak to me in the same way.
Impatient with the process of spiritual growth, I longed to skip the learning process somehow feeling it wasn’t okay to be a beginner.
Maybe you can relate to that inner hesitancy to go through the imperfect progress of learning.
Beyond the borders of the pages of the Bible, God also speaks through our thought, intuition, and conversation, as well as through the preaching of His word and the wise counsel of other Christians. His Words to our hearts are often infused with our own thoughts.
Was that God or was it me?
[tweetthis]Have you ever wondered if you were simply talking to yourself rather than hearing from God? Yes, me too! [/tweetthis]
As we grow in our relationship with God, we begin to recognize how He communicates with us. Incorporating the spiritual activities of reading and reflecting on God’s Word, prayer, and journaling into our regular rhythm of life provides a training ground for getting to know God personally.
My favorite journals have lots of lined pages, giving plenty of room to write. I always keep my eye out in the notebook section of Target for sales.
The more we know God, the more we make intentional choices to trust Him moment by moment. (I wrote a chapter on listening to God in my book, Holy in the Moment).
3 Inspiring Quotes on Listening to God“
“You will never know more about God than the Spirit teaches you. . . If He doesn’t teach us, we can never know. He is our illuminator, and if He doesn’t turn the light on, we can never see. He is the healer of our deaf ears, and if He does not touch our ears, we can never hear.”–A.W. Tozer, The Mystery of the Holy Spirit, 75.
“The best guard against any handling of Scripture that leaves our souls untouched—and ourselves unchanged—is surrender to the cleansing, forming flow of the Holy Spirit. Simply this means opening our whole selves—mind, body, spirit; thoughts, behavior, will—to the open page before us. We seek far more than familiarity with the text alone; instead we are focusing our attention through and beyond the text to the God whose reality fills its depths.”–Richard Foster, Life With God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation, 62.
“The regular discipline of Bible reading helps us to recognize how God speaks through our thoughts as we read. Instead of drifting in one ear and out the other, truth begins to transform our distracted minds. As God speaks, reading, listening, and revelation merge like threads woven into a single cord. Our sluggish thoughts perk up with increased understanding and discernment. What we may have glossed over catches our attention as a specific truth, instruction, or detail stands out.
Over time, we notice the difference between God and other voices because of the truth, content, wisdom, and clarity of the thought.”–Ginger Harrington, Holy in the Moment, p.
My Favorite Tip for Listening to God
In a recent guest for Faith Spilling Over, I shared 7 helpful ways to listen to God. Here is the tip that has helped me the most to learn to listen to God:
Read the Bible as a conversation with God. The Bible is God’s Word to us. As we read, we are hearing from God as the Holy Spirit begins to engage our minds, drawing our attention to particular concepts. Meditating on the truths God brings to our attention is a way of continuing the conversation.
Discover 6 more helpful ways to listen to God in the rest of this guest post. Click here to read more.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#listeningtogod #hearinggod”]A great a collection of thoughts, tips, quotes, and articles to overcome the struggle of listening to God.[/tweetthis]
My Top Posts on Listening to God
Growing in relationship with God through hearing His Word is one of my favorite topics to write and speak about. Here are a few more articles to help you to recognize the way God is speaking to you.
Simple Ways to Meditate on God’s Word
One of my most popular posts in 11 years of blogging. This was also my favorite post to write.
Discover 6 Important Truths About Listening to God
Another top post from my archives on listening to God. The Holy Spirit changes our lives as He opens our ears, awakens our attention, and we respond…one day at a time.
Moments to Pray, Listen, and Think Bring Us Closer to God
Filled with reflection questions and content from these chapters of Holy in the Moment, this post will give you a good taste of content from the book as well as a glimpse of the study guides for the book that are free downloads in my Subscriber Library. Sign to join my newsletter for this download and the many other printables, ebook, and workbooks in the library. Sign up here.
10 Benefits of Reviewing What We Learn from God
In this how-to-post I share how reviewing my journal helps me to listen to God and see the big picture of what He is saying to me over time. The free printable is available in my Subscriber Library.
Overcome Three Problems of Careless Listening
You’re Invited to Join the Holy in the Moment Community
The Holy in the Moment Community is a private FB group where I post daily encouragement to grow closer to God centered around concepts for spiritual growth from my book. Growing together in community is another great way to learn to hear God. Request to join the community here.
This post contains an affiliate link at no cost to you. Affiliate links help to cover the costs of maintaining this website.
11 Ways to Get More out of Reading Scripture
I’m excited to feature a guest post by my friend Betsy de Cruz, author of More of God: A Distracted Woman’s Guide to More Meaningful Quiet Times. I’ll be interviewing Betsy on FB Live on May 22 on my FB page. I’ll be...
10 Free Resources for an Emotionally Healthy You
Enjoy 10 free resources from Ginger Harrington to understand and process your emotions in this post. It’s hard to grow spiritually beyond where you are emotionally. Are you ready to work on an emotionally healthy you? Let’s do it together!
How are you doing, friend? Your heart and your feelings matter.
They are important, just as you are important.
We’ve all struggled with our emotions in recent months. All I have to do is pick up the newspaper for worry to darken my thoughts and outlook. This week both of my girls have finished four years of hard work and are missing out on graduation. Lot’s of feels going on about that one.
Then I feel guilty about my feelings, chiding myself that so many are struggling with life-altering challenges. I lecture myself that missing out on graduation isn’t really that big a deal. Funny, how easy it is to discount, ignore, deny, or lecture ourselves for what we’re feeling.
What we feel is what we feel.
That’s the truth. [tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#healthyemotions”]Vulnerable feelings can shape our functional faith and keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns of living.[/tweetthis]
We learned many things in school, but learning to attend to our emotions is rarely something that we are taught. But here’s the truth, our emotions have something very important to tell us if we will listen.
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body. . . 1 Thessalonians 5:23 MSG
We often don’t think about how God is working through our emotions as a part of making us holy and whole. The Old English and German roots of the word holy include the idea of wholeness, wellness (uninjured), and happy. Part of God’s sacred work of holiness includes emotional healing and well-being. I wrote about this in my book Holy in the Moment.
Vulnerable feelings–the ones that are hard to handle– are messengers, revealing what we are really believing in the moment. For instance, an old belief that loves to trigger emotional reactions in my life is the lie that I must prove my worth and value with productivity and success.
When I feel pressured to perform, stressed that I’m not getting enough done, or discouraged about the perceived success of my efforts, I often find this old lie lurking beneath the surface of my attention.
I may know with my head that this isn’t true, but in the moment my emotions can alert me that I’ve fallen back into that old belief. The truth is that our worth and value are part of our identity in Christ.
Our work can be a blessing and an important part of life, but our significance, worth, value, and “enough-ness” are a gift of God.
What feelings do you experience when you are seeking worth and value from your performance, looks, or relationships?
Sometimes those feelings can be positive and enjoyable, but the ones we notice and struggle with are the more difficult negative feelings. Check out the free workbook to help your on your emotional health journey at the end of this post.
This week I’m honored to be posting on emotional health at Living by Design. I’d love for you to join me there for an in-depth post on 7 Holy Habits for Holy Habits for an Emotionally Healthy You. I’m also teaching a online seminar on Growing in Emotional Health for Planting Roots.
A hearty welcome if you’re joining me from Living by Design or from Planting Roots! I hope you’ll enjoy these posts on dealing with our emotions and the free workbook on Emotional Health.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#emotionalhealth #emotionalwellness”]10 Free Resources for an Emotionally Healthy You[/tweetthis]
- Free Chapter on my struggle with anxiety from Holy in the Moment
- 7 Holy Habits for an Emotionally Healthy You at Living By Design
- Watch Ginger’s interview overcoming anxiety and making intentional choices on Bridges TV with Monica Schmelter.
- 5 Powerful Choices to Free Your Heart from Fear
- 5 Godly Ways to Care for Your Soul
- To the One Who’s Forgotten She Matters: 10 Ways to Love Yourself
- Are You Going to Believe What You’re Feelings Are Telling You?
- Soul Feelings: Unlocking the Messages
- A Free Workbook For An Emotionally Healthy You
- Join the Holy in the Moment Community on Facebook. A private group where I share more information and give helpful reminders to practice emotional health and other holy habits. You can request to join here.
Want more resources for an emotionally healthy you? Snag a free copy of my new Flourish: Emotional Health Workbook. Do you know someone who might benefit from these resources? Love to have you share this post on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.
Friend, thanks for joining me today. Leave a comment and let me know how you are doing. What helps you stay emotionally healthy?
How Trusting God Helped Me Overcome Worry
I’m sharing what the Lord has taught me about growing in godliness and pushing past anxiety despite the hardships we face at Planting Roots: Strength to Thrive in Military Life this week. Whether you are military or not, I know you’ll be able to relate to the struggle to trust God and overcome worry when I received bad news.
Growing in Godliness
The phone rang in the deep hours of the night, jarring me from sleep. I worried it was bad news about my husband who had recently deployed.
It turned out to be my mom. She forgot about the time difference after our recent move to Okinawa, Japan. Thinking she just wanted to catch up, I was unprepared for the reason she called.
“I have stage four lung cancer” are words I never wanted to hear but will never forget.
Instantly my thoughts scrambled into planning mode. How bad is it? How to get home? Who can watch the kids? There are not simple solutions for military families living overseas.
Lord, why would you move us across the globe only to deploy my husband at the same time my mom needs help?
Anxiety ramped up hard bringing a level of resentment and distrust I hadn’t experienced in my faith life before.
Trusting God can be hard, especially in stressful transitions, uncertain times, or long deployments in dangerous places. These are just a few of the circumstances that ignite stress, worry, and dissatisfaction for military members and their families.
I wish I could say that I’ve mastered the art of godliness after twenty-four years of military life. The truth is I struggle with discontent and I wrestle with worry, but I’m learning that godly choices change how I navigate difficult days.
There are two directions we can turn in challenging times—toward God or toward some other source of strength and comfort. [tweetthis]Turning to God empowers us to grow in faith.[/tweetthis]
Far from the place I wanted to be, it was easy to allow my emotions to shape my perspective. I prayed complaints and fears like these:
- You are in control, but my mom is dying of cancer. What’s going to happen?
- Your word says you work all things together for good, but this situation is really bad. How is this going to work out?
- You care about my children, but they are already struggling with this move. Why this? Why now?
I’m not saying it was wrong to ask God my questions. My questions were honest and real, but I allowed my emotions to deflate my faith.
Interested in more resources created by military women for military women? I have the honor of leading the publishing team at Planting Roots. This is what keeps my user-busy when I’m not speaking or writing my own content.
We’ve just launched our fifth book, Growing Together: Strength to Persevere in Military Life, a six-week Bible study based on the book of Hebrews. Do you know someone whom might be encouraged by this study? If so, please share this great new resource!
Catch our Book Launch here.
Linking with these blogging communities: #InspireMeMonday