Ignatius of Loyola

The importance of maintaing a balance between our reason and our feelings (heart). Ignatius' biography appeared in the Acta Sanctorum, a Hagiography (The Study of the Saints) where one can study the life of spiritual endeavors of this man, the founder of the Order of the Jesuits. He had some great thoughts on God and some that I am not so keen on. For example, I'm not a huge believer, like him, that we are to follow the leaders of the Church with utter abandonment to reason. He went so far as to say, and I paraphrase, "If the church tells me that the white that I see is black, then it is." Despite any disagreements I might have with his theology, there is something to be said about the concept of maintaining balance between reason and our feelings. I think that God gave us reason to figure out things for ourselves during the times that He is silent; we have reason to puzzle over the emotions of the heart, the events of life, and our relationships to God and to others. I think our emotions are tied strongly to our ability to hear the voice of God, connect with the things of the spirit, and to know our heart. A balance between these two parts helps create a man/women who is capable of healthy relationships with ourselves, God, and others. We shouldn't just blindly follow our feelings but we need to acknowledge that they are part of the way that God communicates with us.
It is true that it is easy to get lost if we follow our feelings only without reason, especially if we attribute them all to God; but Ignatius and I agree with the Apostle John that we are to "not believe every spirit, but test the spirits and see if they are from God." (1 John 4:1) Do they bring life, joy, peace, or repentance or do they bring despair, turmoil, grief, and guilt? I believe God is in the process of building up, not taring down. He is taking us from emotional and spiritual youth to Mature faith, emotional health, and spiritual freedom. If it is leading us toward Christ and toward that end, then it is from God, if it doesn't then it is from the enemy or our own flesh. Peter Scazzaro says in his book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, "Sometimes they are our fleshly desires or the enemy (feelings). Other times God is prodding us to a better choice. God intends that we mature in learning to recognize how he speaks and guides us through our feelings."

I know that John was talking about Spirits of false prophecy and false teaching, but isn't teaching and prophecy the product of a thought that started in the mind or heart and made its way to the mouth. Those self same thoughts that have lead many believers away from truth started in the mind of a man or a woman who was not mature in their ability to hear the voice of God and who did not test the spirit.

If our feelings lead us to health and wholeness, toward Christ, toward repentance, toward joy and peace, toward life, and the Kingdom then they are from God and they are emotions that should be embraced, even if they hurt. Happiness is not the end all that we believe it is. God has given us something far greater. He has given us joy. Where happiness is based on circumstance our joy is based on knowing who we are in Christ and that all things, good or bad work for our good (Romans 8:28) and that the testing of our faith helps us grow into mature people. (James 1:1-4) and if they lead us away from hope, joy, peace, life, then they are feelings that should be rejected and placed under the authority of Christ so they lose any power they might possess.

The Cry of the Soul (Dan Allender)
In neglecting our intense emotions, we are false to ourselves and lose a wonderful opportunity to know God. We forget that change comes through brutal honesty before God."

I came home one night and as I was passing my daughters empty room my heart broke. My wife was gone, she'd left and taken my daughter. My knees collapsed and as I was weeping and a thought came to my mind... I was crying, but I felt so alive. I felt God's presence, I felt a change happening in my heart that was making me stronger. I realized how we spend so much time trying to be happy that we miss the opportunities to be changed by our sorrow, by embracing it with the same hug that we do with happy things. I allowed myself to weep, I allowed my body to ache and my eyes to burn. I felt what the pain was doing in every part of me and how I could surrender that before God. I felt a peace and a new life that came and as soon as it was passed I thanked God for changing me and letting me be alive, even though it hurt! That's life. That's freedom from fear. To know that even when life gets bad I can live. I can find joy and I can allow God to make me stronger!