Recognizing Your Emotional Triggers and Dealing with Them

We live in a world that is subject to the ‘god of emotions’ and this one isn’t brought under the influence of the Holy Spirit. “You can’t tell me what to feel”, and “It is my right to do as I wish”, are what many people in the world say, liberal to a fault without being led by the Spirit of God. Is this dangerous to us as Christians? Yes! We are allowed to have feelings because we have a Father in Heaven who is touched by the feeling of our infirmities. He is an emotional Father, because He loves us, cares for us, and is jealous of us. God’s emotions cannot be corrupted, but as humans in a degenerate world, our emotions can.

Should a Christian be Hyper-Emotional?

Dethrone the god of your emotions, because if they grow ungoverned by God’s Spirit and God’s word, they serve as a threat not only to us but to the people around us. Hyper-emotional people simply go overboard with how they feel and process their thoughts. Hyper emotions shift our focus from what truly matters, and that is God and His glory. A hyper-emotional person is often unstable and can interpret any situation in a different light. They judge everything and oftentimes are blind to the good in any situation. This could have been triggered due to stress, childhood upbringing, lack of exercise and sleep, or a recent misfortune.

Symptoms of being a Hyper Emotional Christian.

You are highly sensitive to light, noise, pain, and hunger, and often uncontrollable when such feelings hit you.

You show an outburst of anger to people trying to be friends with you or just want to help.

You judge every situation, and you are a deep thinker, which could be negative thoughts.

You absorb the emotions of other people as though it is yours, so much that it triggers sadness and unhappy thoughts.

You avoid a large crowd and you enjoy the company of yourself.

How do you deal with being Hyper emotional?

I would say being hyper-emotional as a Christian has its perks. A hyper-emotional individual tends to love more deeply than others. But to every good, there is a bad. Remember, Paul the Apostle said, the things I didn’t want to do, that’s what I find myself doing. Our emotions are good, in actual fact, it is one of God’s ways of showing us the uniqueness of being humans. When we allow our emotions to overshadow God’s word and His will, that’s where the problem comes in. If you often see yourself being over-emotional, you need to identify the triggers and deal with them. Let’s look at some of the triggers and how to combat them.

Recognizing Emotional triggers as a Christian

Stress: Your emotions can be over the moon because you have been stressed. There are times when our feelings change because there is a new season in our lives. Seasons like giving birth, getting married, relocating to a new city, changing careers, and so on. If you find yourself to be easily angry, you shout a lot more than usual or you are unusually quiet unlike before, it could be linked to stress and you must deal with it so you can be your best with yourself and with others. If your emotions are being triggered because of stress, you can try: listening to calming songs, journaling your thoughts, talking about your feelings to God, or being patient with yourself, especially if you are navigating new seasons in your life. It also helps to take a nap if your mind is blurry, and you could exercise too. As a Christian, you can’t afford to be in a sour state all the days of your life, especially with your emotions. Remember, we are the light of the world, and people, whether we like it or not, see us as examples, a representative of Christ on earth.

Lack of Sleep or Exercise: Have you ever woken up feeling lightheaded, irritated, and dissatisfied even in the early hours of the morning? If yes, then your emotions can get really messy. A proper approach to this will be getting enough sleep or exercising to change your mood. When your sleep routine is consistently altered, there is a high tendency of being affected not only physically but emotionally. You will have trouble thinking and concentrating. If you ever find your emotions to be messy, ask yourself if you have slept well enough. God has promised us sweet sleep. When next you have trouble sleeping, tell your Heavenly Father about it.

Hormonal changes: Our hormones also affect our emotions, as it affects the male counterpart, females aren’t left out. A change in your diet can also affect your emotions. For ladies, pregnancy or menstruation period can be one of the main triggers for emotional imbalance. You should note that a sour emotion due to hormonal changes, especially for females can be temporal, but if it persists for months, then you should consider going for a checkup and praying about it.

Grief/Loss of a loved one: This is the height of it all, and it can be painful and heart-wrenching. Grief is so messy and how we handle it differs. The Bible told us in the book of Isaiah, that He is always with us, and we aren’t left without a comforter. If you are processing grief and you are now hyper-emotional, it is okay. At such moments, you should stick to loved ones around you, journal your feelings and cry out to God for His comfort. Remember, God is with you, a very present Father, and in such moments, you need to draw closer to Him for closure against the loss of your loved one. It is going to be okay, and you will experience God more, I pray that for you. Lots of love.

Our response as Christians to those going through a messy emotion.

Judge not, that’s what the Bible says. Remember, we are all humans. Our response to believers going through emotional changes should be loving them, praying with them even as we give them room to process their thoughts, encouraging them, and visiting them if they are close relatives. When they are grieving, the Bible says we should rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep, we are all one family in Christ.

And our response to one another matters in the kingdom. This brings to mind the story of Elijah in the Bible, when the widow woman accused him of killing her son, Elijah kept calm knowing the poor woman was grieving, all he did was pray for her, and the whole matter was settled.

There are those around us who are emotionally hurting and because of that, they might come off as defensive, judgemental, and unloving. Let us give room for understanding with prayers for one another. For indeed, we are our brother’s keeper.

5 simple ways to manage your Emotions.

Pray about your emotions, remember God feels everything you feel.
Own and write in a journal; the goal is to be truthful with yourself and how you feel; journalling helps you cultivate a good relationship with yourself. Read tips on journalling here.
Speak to friends and loved ones about it. You can speak about your emotional discomfort and changes. If your friends and loved ones are part of the stressors causing an imbalance, you should walk away and emotionally disconnect from them if possible.
Take a stroll or exercise, it helps your mind to relax thus building up mental resilience and fortifying your physical health.
Be intentional about your feelings, thus it is your responsibility to keep guard of your heart.

Anger versus Holy Anger: Is that an emotion for Christians to feel?

Certain bible characters didn’t control their anger such as:

Moses: he got angry at the Israelites and struck the rock against God’s commandment.
Elisha: he was mocked and he killed 42 children.
Peter: he smote the ear of a soldier who came to arrest Jesus. (Psalms 37:8)

A biblical example of Holy Anger:

Jesus in the temple: while the worshippers used the house of God for merchandise allowing theft and robbery to be the order of the day. Jesus smote them with whips turning the tables where they sold their items.

Anger is justifiable when it is directed towards something that God frowns about. This includes child abuse, homosexuality, avarice, injustice, and many others. However, we should be careful that in our anger, we do not entertain sin. If you ever feel angry about the injustice you see in society, such energy can be channeled to a good cause by starting an organization or being involved in an organization that fights against such evil. We cannot by sinning rule out sin, it isn’t possible.

Remember, whatever emotions we feel, there should be no room for sin, for if we do that, we defile our body which is the temple of the living God. God cares for us and He sees everything we feel and go through. There is strength in Christ, if only we depend wholly on Him.