How do you run a restful emotion system? To move to greater rest, you’ll need to work through two emotional challenges:

Challenge #1- Not believing you are good enough.

Challenge #2- Making healthy choices when you are alone.

Challenge #1

Not believing you are good enough. Do you accept yourself and rest, or are you your own worst critic? A critic repeats:

• Why aren’t you smarter?
• Why do you mess up so much?
• When are you ever going to learn?
• Why can’t you be like others?
• If they knew you were such a screw-up, they wouldn’t like you.

What do you repeat?

Challenge #2

Making healthy choices when you are alone. Do you accept that life is full aloneness, and you must make healthy choices during those times? Or is the alone place where your “critical part” goes crazy?

It shouts, taunts, and irritates you.

It screams. “No one wants you. You’re all alone. Being alone is painful. And you can’t take care of yourself. You hate being alone. But you deserve to be alone. You know you’re not good enough. Why would anyone want to be with you?

What does it say to you?

Why does this matter?

These two challenges can create such distress that it drives a man to seek an escape. Only the escape later grows into an addiction.

Prayer

Father, can you please give me wisdom, insight, and growth? I want to run my emotional system on your truths and nothing else. Amen.

Bible Connection

You must not fear, for I am with you;
    you must not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you,
    indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation. - Isaiah 41:10 (LEB)

But he replied, “My gift of undeserved grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am. – 2 Corinthians 12:9 (CEV)