Emotionalism...

A lot of people accuse pentecostals and charismatics of being into emotionalism.

As a "charismatic" Christian, I can definitely tell you that's not the case for me.

I believe God told me to come here to Redding, California. I did it.

So much stuff has gone wrong since I've been here. My emotions tell me to go home. Yet I stay.

First, I still haven't been able to find a job. I've been trusting in God to provide my needs. He has been faithful so far. I'm still trusting him and learning to trust him.

I moved into this one place where the landlord had just hired a realty company to manage the property. A couple of my roommates screw me over, then the realty company screws my one remaining roommate over, who unintentionally screws me over. It's a long story (I'm still friends with that roommate and I hold nothing against him, and I believe given a second chance, he may handle things differently). I was fortunate to have a place to stay temporarily, but my emotions were saying "go back home". In fact, this was the first time in a long time that I've been tempted to just give up on God.

But I can't. My emotions are there, but I'm not controlled by them

I know God comes through every time. It's not always the way we expect it.

God says he's growing me through this time. He also says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. It may seem tough, but it's nothing compared to the burden that I would have to carry otherwise.

Emotions are important, and God gave them to us for a reason. And yes, Charismatic churches are very emotional. However, just because they are very emotional does not mean the people are controlled by emotions. Our emotions sometimes work against us and it's those times we have to trust God and not our emotions.

My emotions have been working against me the past few weeks. But I just continue to trust that God will bring me through this.