Have you ever reacted to something and then later realized that you completely misread the situation? Well, a couple of years ago, I was in the hospital waiting for blood work. A woman rushed in, and she was in an absolute panic. She was insistent on seeing a nurse immediately, convinced that her arm was swelling from a flu shot that she had received an hour previously. The nurse came out from behind the station, trying to calm the lady down. And she started to lightly press on the injection site. And then she smiled.
She said, ma'am, can you please roll up your sleeve for me? By that time, the entire waiting room was silent, since the woman had made her panic very public. And as she rolled up her sleeve, the problem was revealed. The bandage, with the thick cotton ball under it, had created the swollen lump at the injection site. The lady laughed hysterically at herself, and she apologized to the nurse and everyone behind her for the panic. And we all got a good chuckle out of the situation. You see, even though the woman was never in danger, her emotions had deceived her.
She was convinced which led her into a panic, but what she needed was perspective. If she had only rolled up her sleeve at home, she would have saved herself all that panic and a trip back into the hospital. Now, that's a humorous story and one that I'll never forget, but it carries an important life lesson. Too often, we act on our feelings without finding out all the details. You see, our emotions, they deceive us, and we react before waiting for all the information, before we seek out the facts, or before we simply bring it to God and ask him for his perspective.
Welcome to Mountain View Church. My name is Jeremy. I am so glad you're here. If you're new to our faith community, please take some time to connect with us at mountainview.church slash connect or through social media at Mountain View Whitehorse. Today we're starting a brand new series called Emotions, getting a grip of your heart and mind.
Emotions are powerful. They shape how we interpret situations, how we respond to people, and how we see ourselves. But scripture reminds us that our hearts don't always tell us the truth. Left unchecked, feelings can drive assumptions and distort reality. Then they can end up leading us into reactions that we later regret.
Throughout this series, we'll look at Old Testament prophecies and wisdom scriptures that reveal how closely our thinking and feeling are connected. We'll discover that God's word addresses emotion on multiple levels, exposing where our hearts mislead us, while showing us how truth can steady those emotions and give us the next steps. This is also going to be very practical, this whole series. So if you're a fan of the three-point sermons with connecting Bible verses, you are going to love this teaching series. Let's get into it.
Hello, good morning. My name is Chad Bark, and our scripture reading is from Jeremiah 17, 7-10. You're welcome to follow along with a physical Bible or search the table of contents to locate the corresponding page number for Jeremiah. Alternatively, you can download the Bible app or visit Bible.com. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. Today's message is titled Deceptive Diagnosis, addressing when and how our feelings fool you.
To be clear, the goal isn't to suppress emotion or pretend we don't have feelings. Instead, the goal is alignment. When we slow down, test what we're feeling against what God has revealed, and surrender our circumstances to him, our responses begin to change, sometimes radically. You see, spiritual health begins when we invite God to search us, and to correct us, and to renew both our heart and our mind, all by his Holy Spirit. In many ways, this can become a simple practice. Don't assume there's a problem. Instead, let God reveal what's real.
Because what we're feeling isn't always what's really happening. And if we build our decisions on emotional assumptions, we'll misdiagnose situations over and over and over again. And scripture gives us three principles that break this all down. And we're going to walk through those today. Principle number one, the heart's deception feels real, but it isn't true. Now in Jeremiah 17, verse nine, we read, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?
Now, as human beings, we all know that feelings are a valid expression of emotion. We can't change that. That's part of being human. But they're not reliable diagnostic tools. It turns out that this has been an issue throughout human existence. Thousands of years ago, God revealed through the prophet Jeremiah that the heart tricks us and misreads our circumstances. It can assign meaning too quickly and works from a predetermined assumption, a feelings-based assumption. Now, how does this happen? Here are a few examples that happen in everyday life.
Feelings can turn silence into rejection. Like when someone doesn't message you back, maybe, and you assume they're angry or upset with you. That's actually not what's happening, but our feelings get away from us. Next, look at how feelings can turn inconvenience into injustice. Like when things don't go your way, and maybe you don't get what you want. Sometimes our feelings cause us to assume that we're being targeted in some way, but that's not really what's happening.
Next, look at feelings that can turn uncertainty into fear, as another example. Like when you don't have all the information on what's coming next, and so maybe your mind immediately jumps to the worst-case scenario or the worst possible outcome, like, I don't have all the information, so it's going to go badly. But that's not true either. All these situations is feelings and emotions causing us to think in a skewed way. You see, the human heart will often push a false diagnosis because, at our core, human beings are fallen and sinful. Our sin nature is naturally deceptive, using how we feel to supersede the logical conclusions.
So how do we combat this sinful emotional bent? Well, God gives us the answer again through the prophet Jeremiah in the very next verse. He writes, I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. The alternative to letting our heart lead from emotion is to lean into the mind and soul and then allow God's spirit to impact them, to examine how we're thinking, examine the situation. And we'll soon discover that God's spirit is far better at diagnosing our circumstances than we are.
So instead of trusting your feelings, maybe prayerfully ask, God, what is actually going on here? And just wait and listen. He'll speak to you. Which points us to our second principle, that diagnosis requires divine perspective. From Psalm 139, we read, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.
Jeremiah had already established that only God can see past emotional symptoms to spiritual causes. And now the psalmist confirms it, that our emotions want to overtake logical thinking and spiritual perspective. In those moments, we need to pause and pray. With that in mind, it is worth noting that prayer can be a very emotional experience. We're humans after all. We have feelings, and God can handle every single one of them. And he's correcting us where we might be moving in the wrong direction, where we might be letting our feelings lead us. So wherever your heart is struggling with, or what it's yearning for maybe, bring it under God's authority. Even if it's tear-filled or it's angry, prayer is like this spirit-led consultation with the creator of the universe, and it breaks through the deceptive feelings that might otherwise cause you to stumble. It's worth sharing your feelings with God first.
And in a way, bringing God your emotional rant is kind of like that hospital situation with the woman, you know, panic coming to the nurse. You know, we can maybe picture the Holy Spirit like that nurse saying, it's going to be okay. Let me have a look. Because the Holy Spirit already knows what's going on. The Holy Spirit brings calm to our emotional chaos. You can stop self-diagnosing by how you feel. Invite God to search what you can't see. And after that, principle number three, when peace comes from knowing the truth.
The prophet Isaiah writes this. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. You see, once we've accepted that our heart and feelings are deceptive and we've thoughtfully and prayerfully sought God's intervention, then the next step is choosing to trust in God's truth. Now hear me, we might not like it, it might not feel good, but it brings peace of mind over the long run, peace that lasts. And how does this work? Because perfect peace comes when we anchor our minds in God's truth instead of human emotion, instead of human perspectives and opinions and preferences.
Our feelings shift. Human feelings shift constantly because they're based on circumstances and earthly things, the people involved, all of that. But God's truth doesn't shift. He is an everlasting rock. Now let's come back to the Psalms. I want to look at the prayer of Asaph found in Psalm 73. It shows us exactly what this looks like in a real-life situation.
though an ancient one. You see, Asaph had been overwhelmed by the situation of God's people. He looked at the prosperity of the wicked and felt confused and deeply grieved. His emotions were telling him that it wasn't fair. And he recorded that feeling. He wrote, but as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
As the psalm continues, he processes his emotion through prayer. It's a prayerful psalm, and he actually arrives at a spiritually healthy conclusion. In verses 14 through 17, we read, Asaph's emotions felt justified. But his interpretation was incomplete. Thankfully, he went to God with it. He processed it well. Notice how everything changed when he, quote, went into the sanctuary of God. He gave it to God. And the situation for Israel, it hadn't changed. He didn't receive any new information, no big revelation, just this prayerful song that was written for us now to learn from. But he had received clarity through spiritual understanding that impacted both his heart and his mind. And if we look further in his concluding words, we find a principle that echoes our starting point from Jeremiah's prophecy.
In verse 26, we read, Asaph was overwhelmed and deeply grieved. He had all the emotions, and for good reason. And yet, he came out of it, anchored in that peace that only God can offer. All of it because he went to God with what he was feeling instead of acting on his emotions. Within God's presence, our emotional assumptions are replaced with spiritual understanding. What feels permanent is often, in reality, factually temporary. And our perceived injustice is often more nuanced and complex than we ever want to believe. There's always so much more going on, especially behind the scenes. So when you bring your emotional prayers to God, he doesn't always change your circumstances. He might not do anything about it in the moment.
But just like Asaph, he can give you perspective that will steady your heart and keep you from making a poor decision. Because peace isn't found in resolved circumstances, ultimately. It's found in surrender to God's authority over the long term. Now, we've looked at a lot of scriptures today, establishing that the human heart is naturally deceptive. Hopefully, you've come to that conclusion. But the Old Testament prophets didn't just warn us about that problem. They pointed toward a day when God would solve that problem, do something about it.
Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promised, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. The prophets of the Old Testament were always pointing toward a moment where God would intervene and change us from the inside out. Not just as a way to manage our emotions better, not life skills type stuff, but to actually transform the heart, our heart, our being itself. And that moment came when God sent his son, Jesus.
You see, Jesus died on a cross, sacrificed for the sins of the world, including all the deceptive lies that fill our hearts, all of it. Then three days later, God raised him from the dead. His death dealt with our sin, and his resurrection guaranteed a new life to be lived on this earth, but even better, eternal life after we die. And through faith in Jesus, God does exactly what he promised in Ezekiel. He gives us a new heart that can be searched and corrected and steadied by the Holy Spirit, who is, because of Jesus, living to our soul, living inside of us.
walking with us day by day because of what Jesus has done for us. Now, some people feel like the account of Jesus is unbelievable. But as we've discovered, feelings aren't always facts. If you're willing to do the work, you'll discover more documented historical and scriptural evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ than there is for many ancient historical people and events that we just accept without even question. The evidence is there if you're willing to look. But don't let your feelings talk you out of it. Really dig in to Jesus. Investigate it. Look at the Bible. Look at the scriptures. Do the work. Don't let your feelings get in the way of finding the truth. We started this message with a humorous story of a woman who was convinced that her arm was swelling up and really it was just a cotton ball under a bandage. She didn't need a diagnosis. She thought she did, but she didn't. She just needed someone to show her what was actually and factually going on.
And maybe that's what God's spirit is doing for you today, right here, right now. If that's your situation, it's time to stop assuming there's a problem that you need to figure out or fix. Lay all that aside. Instead, let God reveal what is real in your life and in every situation you're in. And so if you're ready to stop self-diagnosing and ask for God's revelation, I'm going to ask you to pray with me. You can pray this prayer, receive Jesus, God's son, receive the Holy Spirit and start on a new journey. That's not self-diagnosis, but giving it all to God and finding his truth and surrendering to his authority and discovering what's really going on away from all the feelings and emotions. If you're ready to take that step, or maybe you're a Christian who's ready to just recommit these things that you believe, would you pray with me now? Dear God, I admit that my heart has been deceiving you.
I've been trusting my feelings more than your ways. Please search my heart and replace my assumptions with your truth. I believe that you sent your son, Jesus, who died on the cross for my sin. I believe that you raised him to life on the third day. Today I surrender my life to you and choose to trust you above everything I feel. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for watching or listening and working through today's topic. I know this kind of message requires a lot of self-reflection to kind of slow down and face what's going on inside of us. It's not easy. And so I'm grateful for your time and attention today. It was maybe some work for some of you. I get it.
And if you have a prayer request or you're looking to get connected, please go to that website again, mountainview.church slash connect and get connected with us. Or you can always drop us a DM on social media, wherever you're at, at Mountain View Whitehorse. We'd love to answer your questions, pray for you, find a place in our faith community for you. Also, if these messages are helpful, please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Then turn on those notifications and each week's message shows up in your feed. It's an easy way to continue to stay connected week by week, getting each message and not missing one. Now, here are a few updates on what's happening outside of our weekly messages.
Good morning, Mountain View. My name is Haley, and I want to invite all the young adults in the room to our monthly event, which is happening today. So young adults is ages 18 to 35. No registration required. Anyone can come anytime. Today, we're going to have an afternoon of appies and games. So if you can bring an appetizer and you want to bring a game, you're more than welcome to. But if it feels like a lot to organize bringing something, don't even worry about it. The most important thing to bring is yourself. So this is going to be happening this afternoon at 3 p.m. till 5 p.m. up in Copper Ridge. The address is 6 Tiger Eye Crescent, and we would love to see you there. Have a great Sunday.
We're hosting a Connect Lunch on Sunday, March 8th at 12.30pm. This is a new initiative at Mountain View. It's a monthly opportunity to help newcomers move from attending to belonging, hosted on the second Sunday of every month. Over lunch, you'll connect with one of our pastoral staff and potentially a couple of our leadership team to ask some questions, get to know us better, or just chat. If you're interested in our first Connect Lunch happening on March 8th, you can sign up online by emailing admin at mountainview.church or at the welcome desk in-house at one of our physical gatherings. Put your name down there and we'll make sure to get in touch with you.
Next, we're excited to announce that our chaplain, Aaron Monis, is fully set up to receive financial support for those wishing to support his chaplaincy ministry here in the Yukon. For a one-time donation, you can simply go online to fellowship.ca slash dms slash Aaron Monis. And if you'd like to set up monthly ongoing donations, email office at fellowship.ca. That's office at fellowship.ca. Before you go, here are a few connecting questions to help you move from content consumption to building community.
If you're watching or listening to this message with someone else, use these questions to guide some conversation. And if you're alone, take five minutes to engage with us digitally by leaving a comment in the feed or sending us a message on social media. Let's get into the questions. Question number one, what kind of feelings are you prone to perceive as fact? What kind of feelings are you most prone to perceive as factual? Question number two, is there a situation you've self-diagnosed instead of praying through? Is there a situation that you've self-diagnosed instead of praying through it?
And question number three, where do you need a trade in emotional assumptions for God's truth? Where do you need to trade emotional assumptions for God's truth? Those are big questions, so you should have a great conversation. As a final request, please plan on coming back next week. For week two of our emotion series, we'll be focusing on the divided heart, searching the scriptures on how to trust God completely, kind of continuation of what we've learned today. So if you've ever felt pulled in two directions, knowing what's right, but feeling something tugging you down a different path, maybe we've all been there.
this message is worth coming back for. And so please come back next week and if possible, invite a friend to watch or listen with you. We'll see you there. If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church.com. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse UConn.