There was a popular song in the 1970s by that title. It originated as the French song Pour Toi and has been recorded at least 168 times. Morris Albert and Shirley Bassey are among the best known versions of the English version. Frankly, I find it to be earworm material. Sorry if you feel that way too.
Feelings are more than the subject matter for lyricists. They are very prevalent and relevant in our lives. So, how are you feeling?
Chances are pretty good that there isn’t a simple answer to that question. We have a variety of feelings happening all the time. We feel happy and stressed and hurried and blessed simultaneously. But some of what we feel takes over and dominates our emotions. Maybe you’ve felt more stressed than blessed recently, or even right now. After all we live in an environment that breeds stress. If you’re not feeling it, someone you know certainly is. There’s the stress of work, cost of living, family dynamics, and more. But we also have more feelings than just stress. We feel joy, satisfaction, lonely, hurt, blessed, angry… And there is nothing wrong or bad about feelings.
| Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 (ESV) For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; |
Feelings can affect us, however. Stress can create problems in our health, our relationships, and lead to other complications. Anger can boil over into actions that we regret. Fear can make us hesitate to take action. Sadness can become depression. When we let feelings control our actions, we could very well go away from God. Beginning on September 9 we will talk about our feelings. Don’t worry, men, it’ll be okay. We will talk about how we feel, how different Bible characters felt, and how our faith is more than our feelings. We’ll talk about God’s gifts of love, joy, peace, patience and more!
Feeling blessed, even when stressed!
Pastor John