Most days, I love technology. What a blessing to type these words from the comfort of my office (and sometimes my bed or sofa) and send them worldwide with the push of a button. It’s awesome. It’s amazing. And sometimes, it’s downright frustrating. For me, technology is only a blessing when it’s doing what it’s supposed to do. When it’s not behaving, well, that’s a different story.

I was reminded of this last week when my printer had a meltdown. I was working on a project that should have only taken a few minutes. No big deal! But, for some reason, my printer decided it would not cooperate. At first, it was laggy. Then, it threw up random warnings that didn’t make any sense. Finally, it gave me a big, red exclamation mark, and I knew it was NOT happy with me. To quote Winnie the Pooh, “Oh, bother!”

Deciding I would not panic or get frustrated, I calmly opened the printer settings to see what the problem was. The big, red exclamation mark glared across the screen with these words: “Load paper. The paper tray is empty.” Normally, that would be an easy fix, right? If the paper tray is empty, all I would need to do is add paper. Duh! One problem—the paper tray was full. There was plenty of paper in the tray. So, now what? I opened and closed the drawer a few times, hoping it would signal to the printer that I had done as it requested. No luck. I turned the printer off and on again, hoping to reset everything. Nope! I rebooted the entire computer. Still, that stupid red exclamation point stared at me, challenging me to figure out how to fix a problem that didn’t even exist.  At this point, I graduated from Winnie the Pooh to Charlie Brown, “Oh, good grief!”

Finally, I did what I should have done to begin with—I called Jason. He, too, was baffled by the situation (which made me feel a little better), but soon, he concluded that the computer and printer were out of sync and needed to be reconnected. A few minutes later, everything was up and running, and my new nemesis—the red exclamation mark—was nowhere to be found. I finished my printing project and could finally move on to my next task. I can’t tell you how much time I lost because technology lied to me.

Unfortunately, I often receive the same treatment from my emotions. Let me tell you, they are the biggest liars of all. Regularly, they try to convince me that no one loves me, no one cares what happens to me, my work is in vain, I’m not good enough or strong enough, and on and on. Story after story. Lie after lie. They hound me day and night with their dramatic tales and heartfelt cries. And a lot of times, I believe them. I buy into the story they’re selling.  After all, if I feel like I’m a loser, then it must be true, right?

Just as my lying printer did last week, my feelings often signal problems that don’t even exist, which leads to a lot of stress and anxiety. By responding to their lies, I work myself into a tizzy trying to fix things when, the truth is, there’s nothing wrong. There is no problem! My emotions only want me to think there’s one so I can nurse my imaginary wounds and drown my sorrows in over-indulgent food. What’s up with that?

I read once that emotions are indicators of what’s going on in our life, but they should never be dictators of how we respond. Amen to that! Sure, my feelings may tell me that God’s “tray” of grace is empty, but I know that’s not true. His mercies and compassion are new every morning. My emotions may tell me that my energy reserves are gone, but the Bible tells me that if I wait on the Lord, He will renew my strength.  In short, my friends, feelings can’t be trusted. They lie. . .a lot!

The next time your emotions throw up a red exclamation mark, don’t fall for it. Trust what you know. Trust the truth of God’s Word. Put your faith in what God has said not in what your heart may feel. Remember, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (a lot like my printer). Don’t fall prey to its lies. You are in control of your feelings. Show them who’s boss by going to the One who can solve all your problems. Turn it over to God and allow Him to direct you to the truth. You’ll be glad you did.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think my printer and I need to have another heart-to-heart, and this time, I’ve brought back up!