Some days life puts us to the test. These are the days that things don’t just rock along, days that don’t unfold as we had planned or desired. These are the hard and agonizing days.It’s ok. We all have them. We all know them well. Sleepless nights. Heavy hearts for those we love. Worries about the future. This is the stuff of life.

The questions of life somehow seem to boil down to this: how you do this thing called life isn’t ultimately determined by the lush and peaceful days. Life is determined by how you handle these days, these dark days that can feel like a vacant wasteland.

It is in these days where your substance, your very foundation is tested.

That’s why Emotional Abundance is necessary so that you don’t live from one challenging day to the next, praying for relief, hoping that perhaps, one day things will get better. There is so much more!

Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly.” That’s what He wants for His children.

Emotional Abundance is a concept that simply put, means experiencing a sense of fullness to overflowing, an abounding richness in the instinctive, emotional area of your life and relationships. Your emotions exist. They were designed by God as part of your DNA. He desires your emotional self to be healthy and whole so that you can experience “abundance” in them. You can cultivate Emotional Abundance in your life and it will change your life forever!

There are three reasons why you can’t live without Emotional Abundance:

1. Maximized HOPE! – Without a doubt your hope lies first and foremost in the person of Jesus Christ. He is your foundation spiritually, emotionally, and physically. As you learn to appropriate His hope into the emotional area of your life, you will experience the fullness, the abundance of hope He promises. Emotional Abundance allows you to walk through all the seasons of our lives and deal with them effectively so that you can face them without fear and find peace in the most difficult days.

Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) states, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

2. Complete WHOLENESS! – God wants you to be not only healed, but whole. Emotional Abundance allows you to find healing for your wounds and experience wholeness within your own heart and mind. As you learn to be a good caretaker for your emotions, to create an environment of compassion and truth, you will begin to discover your emotional identity. God doesn’t want his children limping through life, barely surviving. He wants you to thrive. He wants you to discover your unique calling, your passion and purpose so that you can make a difference for His kingdom. As individuals become whole, the entire body of Christ becomes whole.

2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) tells us that, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well- balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”

3. Enduring HARMONY! – You were not meant to live in chaos. Your relationships were never supposed to be a rollercoaster of pain and disappointment. Emotional Abundance fosters peace and strength in your relationships so that you can enjoy them without being dependent on them for your happiness or wellbeing. When you look inside to find peace within yourselves, you don’t need as much from others, nor do you blame them for your unhappiness. Emotional Abundance allows you to deal with disagreements in a way that leaves you and others on the same team and preserves the openness, safety and respect needed for relationships to flourish.

Romans 15:5-6 Amplified Bible (AMP) shares, “Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

This is the life God has for you. Don’t settle for anything less than hope and wholeness and harmony. The end you discover will be — peace!

Lisa Murray is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in relationship issues. In her writing Lisa enjoys exploring the topics of spiritual and emotional wholeness in our lives and relationships. Follow her on Twitter to get your questions answered and to learn more about Lisa.