Hooked On a Feeling

I love tools.

Not only do they make me money, but they satisfy my instinctive male passion to manipulate things.

However, my wife will testify that manipulation is a term of relevance, recounting the day I “manipulated” a broken dining room chair to splinters in a fit of rage after an unsuccessful attempt to repair it.

Well, sure, that was a long time ago.  But it never occurred to me then that my feelings were no different than a hammer or a saw, at the mercy of whatever drove them.  So, until I learned that emotions were something that needed to be sharpened, refined and regulated, I was a loose cannon and my target was anything in the way.

I was a slave to my circumstances—something over which I often thought I had no control.

As a result, I found it very easy to conclude that, under unpleasant circumstances, God was not good.  I knew better, of course…especially when Christmas rolled around or when the tax refund landed in the mailbox.

But the part-time Christian is a deaf coyote with a sinus infection.  He needs nourishment and rest, but he’s bound to the weakened limits of his own devices.  He can’t afford to act confidently in the plight of his circumstances.  He’s looking for a lucky break.

Human emotions are but one means of leveling the odds on the playing field of circumstances.  And, to the degree they’re maintained and applied correctly, they can drastically effect the outcome of critical situations and events for the better.

But they’re not bulletproof.

The faithful disciple of Jesus Christ’s little flock is acutely aware of his emotional limits and the unpredictable conditions life throws at him.  But just like a healthy, alert coyote, he learns to rely confidently upon the Creator’s miraculous wisdom and sustained strength demonstrated in the natural order as well.

He acquires skills and he practices them.  He secures tools and he keeps them sharp.  He understands that existing under his Lord’s guardianship presents circumstances that sometimes seem insurmountable.

But he overcomes hardship by acting upon the knowledge that God is good—not by feeling it.