Emotions

I have been quite emotional lately. I hate being emotional. I think they are gross and untidy. I am trying to figure out what God thinks about emotions...

Emotions are closer to us than our own breath at some points. We can feel them to a depth and level that can't even always be put into words. Life, it seems, demands and understanding or acceptance of emotions. They are as constant and present as the air around us and they must be managed.

I think a part of what makes me extremely uncomfortable with emotions is that they often come with great intensity. A thought may be put out of my mind, but the emotions or aftermath of the emotion lingers. When I am filled with dread, the source may be a fearful thought or situation, yet it is the intensity of the emotion that preoccupies me not necessarily the emotion itself. I cannot flee from my feelings; therefore, I must deal with them. 

How to deal with them, I guess, is the current questions.  I can know intellectually that emotions are not always based in truth. However, there is something about an emotion that is rooted in the truth of an experience. I can know that I am created in God's image and therefore some of the emotion is a reflection of his image. I cannot figure out how to deal with the depth and type of emotions I have been having over the past few days. I am going to start reading Breaking Bondage and I may reread Healing for Damaged Emotions. Perhaps I will find answers...