Emotions and Fatigue

Managing Your Emotions: Instead of Your Emotions Managing You
by Joyce Meyer

(Page 6 of 8)

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a lone broom or jumper tree and asked that he might die. He said, It is enough; now, 0 Lord, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers. 1 Kings 19:4

I have often heard that after a person goes through a real emotional high, he will usually bottom out with an emotional low.

We see this in the life of Elijah the prophet in the book of 1 Kings. One day he is on Mt. Carmel making a fool of the priests of Baal, calling down fire from heaven, at the height of his emotion. The next day we see him out in the desert sitting under a juniper tree asking Cod to let him die because he feels so depressed.

In my own life, I have noticed when I minister in a series of meetings, I spend everything I have spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, praying for people and meeting their needs. I get so excited when I see what Cod is doing through those meetings, my radio and television broadcasts, and other outreaches we are involved in.

But then when I return from something exciting like that to normal, everyday life, it is almost too much to bear. Who wants to go from casting out demons one day to normal household chores the next?

Often we get the idea, "Oh, if I could just stay on this emotional high forever!" But God knows we couldn't stand it. A lot of emotional highs and lows wear us out emotionally as well as mentally and physically.

When I came home after those ministry trips, I couldn't understand what was wrong with me. I would go through the house rebuking Satan, when the only thing wrong was that I was tired - physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. Like Elijah in the desert, I didn't need to fight the enemy, I needed to rest and recuperate.

When you get like that, don't do like Elijah and get down on yourself. Don't start thinking what a miserable person you are. Don't moan and groan about how happy you were yesterday but how terrible you feel today. Don't start complaining to the Lord about how worthless you feel.

Do you know what I do when I get like that? I say, "Lord, I'm feeling down right now, so I'm going to have to just rest and build myself back up again. I'm going to spend time with You, Lord, and let You strengthen me."

Manic Depression

The psychological term used to describe people who go from one emotional extreme to another is "manic depressive."

A young woman in one of our meetings once told me that her husband was a manic depressive. She said that for three months he would be on an emotional high and be really creative. In his business, he would buy and sell, invest large sums of money, and be tremendously successful. When he came down from that emotional high, he would go into deep depression that might last for as long as six months!

Medical science at one time only tried to bring up the emotional lows for people with manic depression. When they were enjoying an emotional high, nothing was done for them. According to an article I recently read, it has now been discovered that the attempt must be made to bring down the extreme highs. Health experts are learning that balance is the key.

We have always applauded high emotions and been critical of lows. Actually both extreme ends are wrong.

Most of us will never have problems with manic depression, but we can learn a principle from how they are treated, and we can understand that it isn't good enough to simply resist depression, we must also resist the temptation to get so emotionally high that it leaves us exhausted and open prey for the devil.

None of us can live on the mountaintop all the time. There are going to be days when we are up and days when we feel down. Emotions are fickle, and they fluctuate frequently for no apparent reason. What we need to learn is how to manage both ends of the extreme.

One thing that is important for stable emotional health is honesty - with self and with others. People who are close to us can sense when we are struggling emotionally. I have found it is best for me and my family if I am honest with them about what is going on with me. At those times when I have felt myself sliding toward anger, depression, or any negative emotion, I have told my family, "My emotions are going haywire today, so if I'm quiet, just don't pay any attention to me for a while."

We must remember that what we hide still has power over us, but when we bring things out in the open, they begin losing their grip immediately. John 8:32 teaches us that the truth will make us free. James 5:16 encourages us to confess our faults to one another so that we may be healed and restored to a spiritual tone of mind and heart.

I found that if I tried to protect my spiritual reputation by pretending that nothing was wrong with me, all it did was bring confusion to my entire family. They might begin to imagine that I was angry with them for some reason. Then they would become upset, trying to reason out what they might have done to upset me. We were all a lot better off if I simply told the truth.

I tried to learn to be quiet during those times.

We have a tendency to say things when we are emotionally upset that we regret later. We have a responsibility to our family members and others with whom we spend a lot of time to avoid keeping them guessing about what's going on with us.

Here is a good example: One of the members of our road team who is normally very talkative and bubbly suddenly became very quiet and almost withdrawn. Several of the other team members noticed it and came to Dave and me saying, "What's wrong with ______?" They thought she was angry about something or with someone on the travel crew.

When I spoke with her, she was simply having some health problems. She had recently gone for some medical tests and was anxiously awaiting the results. She said, "I always get quiet and just pray when I'm dealing with something like this."

I told her that getting quiet and praying was the thing to do, but that it might be good the next time to just mention to everyone that she was dealing with something personal and not to think anything about it if she seemed quiet. By doing so, we can prevent the devil from placing negative things in other people's imaginations about the situation.

People respect us if we are open and straightforward. I learned this truth with my family, and it saved all of us a lot of anxiety.

Remember that the devil will use our emotions to bring us under guilt and condemnation, but God often uses them to test or try us so that we come forth from our emotional upheavals stronger and better able to control them than ever before.

The trick is to learn not to give in or cater to emotions. I spent many years being up and down emotionally, but now I am very stable. God helps us as we continue trusting Him and following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Copyright © 1997 by Joyce Meyer

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences.