I interrupt your week to tell you something you may not want to hear: that icky feeling you can’t shake could be a good thing.
I’m not talking about being sick. Please, if you’re laid up in bed take some medicine or see a doctor. I’m talking about that internal feeling that something is off. That something is wrong. That discomfort.
One of the most important things I learned through intense therapy over the last year is to be curious. When we feel something—especially something we don’t like—we need to explore it. Ask questions about it. Get to the root.
And guess what: We know to dig when we feel something we don’t like to feel. When we get annoyed, when we feel inadequate, when we lose it over something small. Those, friend, are indicators to grab the shovel, start digging, and see what’s below the surface.
I like how Paul David Tripp puts it in his devotional for September 16 from “New Morning Mercies”:
These moments of painful internal discomfort are not bad things; they’re very good things. They are evidences of the tender, patient care of your Savior. … These moments of personal conviction are always moments of beautiful grace in action.
Tripp especially hones in on the discomfort associated with when we’ve done something wrong, and I think that’s important as well. You know what that’s called? Godly guilt. I have a whole section on godly guilt in my upcoming book, “Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic,” but the short version is this: godly guilt is that nagging feeling of having done wrong, but instead of wallowing in it it spurs you to action. To rectify it.
It’s the difference between what Peter felt after denying Jesus and what Judas felt after betraying Jesus. One led to great action and life, the other literally led to shame and death.
Friend, my point in all this is that we are so quick to try and numb our discomfort. But what if we saw our uncomfortable feelings as a gift? What if we saw them as a “check engine” light for our souls? If you saw a warning on the dash for your car, you’d be an idiot to put a piece of tape over it instead of going to the mechanic.
It’s the same for your soul.
Our discomfort is a spiritual check engine light. It is unwise to ignore it or cover it up. And here’s the good news: we have access to the best soul mechanic. It’s the one who designed us. It’s like being able to take your broken Model A to Henry Ford himself.
So please: stop ignoring the pain and discomfort in your life. Stop ignoring your spiritual check engine lights. Be curious and go to your soul’s mechanic instead.
Love the check engine light! And the soul check! Thanks for being so brave, Jonathon and writing so beautifully!! I just received the devotion you have referenced and so look forward to your book as well!!
I hope this is true. The ick is real and making me nauseas. So tired of it all…