By Jill Krueger Wagner
Since I was a little girl, I have struggled with one particular emotion. It grabs ahold of me and shoves me down into a state of utter defeat. I retreat into myself and am a most miserable woman.
I found a visual aide in Genesis 4:7 that helps me to
fight emotions. Cain was struggling with anger and jealousy. He was upset that
God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but not his. (Why God wasn’t pleased with his
offering won’t be covered here). God told him, “If you do what is right (offer an
acceptable sacrifice), will you not be accepted? BUT if you do not do what is
right, sin is CROUCHING AT YOUR DOOR, it desires to have you, but you
must rule over it.”
That is my visual aide. Emotions themselves aren’t
necessarily sinful, although they can lead to sin, as in Cain’s case where his
anger and jealousy led him to murder Cain. But when I picture my strongest
emotions: anger, self-pity, or revenge, as crouching animals desiring to “have
me,” control me, and make me act in a way that displeases God, it helps me to
choose an emotion that is pleasing to God like joy, thankfulness, or
forgiveness. I look for verses that speak of those good emotions and speak them
out to God because I don’t want some crouching evil having its way with me.
