Every day, your thoughts pull you in different directions.
One moment, you’re sure of yourself, and the next, you feel like a complete failure.
But not every feeling and thought that comes to you is your own. Some are sent to you by the goodness of Jesus Christ, meant to elevate you.
Others might be Satan’s influence, who seeks to tear you down and make you bitter.
So, which are which?
1. Stillness
When God is near, you feel this quiet peace, and it’s not something that can be faked.
You know it’s Christ’s influence when your surroundings are messy, but you still feel peaceful, knowing that things will eventually come into place.
His presence was never meant to be loud; it simply felt.
When you feel that stillness, don’t take it for granted. Pay attention, because that’s His truth trying to reach you.
This world would have you think that stillness is laziness, a sign that you haven’t been “hustling” enough.
However, this stillness isn’t passive. It’s a sign that some greater influence is keeping your grounded, no matter your environment.
Learn to recognize it, and protect it.
2. Feeling Rushed
Don’t you sometimes get caught up in that frantic energy that makes you feel as though you have to do everything right now?
You’re tempted to rush important decisions, or you end up saying things you don’t mean just because you feel like something needs to be said right now.
That’s Satan’s influence.
A rushed mind almost always makes a mistake. He wants you to move before you’ve had a chance to think things through.
Questo vi fa reactive and combative.
Real direction, the one that comes from God, always comes with enough peace to actually see it through.
Next time you feel like this, ask yourself if you davvero benefit from rushing. And if you don’t, who does?
3. Feeling Led
Being led feels completely different from being pushed. Once you know the difference between the two, it’s impossible to unsee.
When God leads and influences you, you’re able to take it one step at a time. In your gut, you know that you’re not making a mistake.
Even when the path is hard, you trust in it.
You can’t possibly know what’s ahead, but you can feel that He is pulling you in the right direction.
It requires faith and willingness to follow His will.
Like, you know how, sometimes, great things come from doing something you never actually meant to do? It came to you, and you followed along.
At the end, you always know it’s for the better.
4. Confusion
Satan’s influence makes you confused, and somehow, it manages to lead you to conclude that the results of that confusion are all your fault.
You start doubting things you used to be sure about.
Your thoughts are full of contradictions, and nothing seems clear anymore. Your purpose and your relationships all seem weak.
This influence leads you to isolate yourself, and then, confusion grows even more.
God isn’t the one who created confusion; He brings us clarity and truth.
He wants us to surround ourselves with loved ones and be fulfilled.
Satan wants you to second-guess everything you know. He leaves you unable to take concrete action.
5. Comfort
Comfort is often presented as something that spoils us, and leaves us numb. But when it’s from Jesus, comfort holds you.
It’s God’s influence in your life.
It doesn’t prevent you from enduring hardship and being disappointed; however, it lifts you up when you experience these things.
His presence comforts you by making you understand that you’re never alone.
Over time, it makes you stronger.
It has nothing to do with worldly distractions and habits we use to get away from our problems.
This comfort makes you trust that you can face anything because the divine is right by your side.
6. Feeling Pressured
Being pushed to go slightly over your limits is good. It’s what creates progress.
However, Satan’s influence brings a specific kind of pressure to your life that makes you easier to control.
He tricks you into bad decisions through guilt and fear, leaving you to feel like you don’t have a say in the matter.
Even when this pressure looks like motivation, it’s him pulling your strings.
You know this isn’t from God when you start neglecting importante parts of your life to make a goal happen. You might start losing sleep, or even lose your appetite.
When God challenges you to grow, it’s willing.
Ask yourself where the pressure is coming from and decide whether you need to challenge it.
7. Reassurance
You can be having the worst day of your life, and for some reason, feel as though things will sort themselves out.
You feel so confident about this that you can see a vivid picture in front of you where everything is perfectly fine.
That’s Jesus influencing your feelings.
There is fear and loss; He doesn’t make you run from them.
But through it all, you feel cared for.
Circumstances may change, but the confidence He instills in you doesn’t.
It’s a consistent sense of peace that you keep returning to. Negative influences might make you lose sight of it briefly, but, sooner or later, you come to see it again.
8. Fear
Fear that paralyzes you rarely comes from God’s influence.
He brings the truth, and irrational fear is often a trick. Satan uses it to make life seem hopeless, even when things aren’t all that bad.
That’s his way of making you feel lost and isolated. He keeps you unhappy, since you’re afraid of new opportunities and relationships.
You might be afraid of leaving a miserable job, thinking there’s nothing else out there for you.
Also, fear tends to show up right before growth.
God wants you to grow into a better version of yourself; Satan uses fear to keep you right where you are.
9. Enlightenment
Enlightenment is God’s way to speak to us directly.
His influence doesn’t necessarily come in words; it comes in idee and sudden ispirazione.
You know those days when you feel inspired to create, seemingly out of nowhere?
Or when you read something that left you feeling flat before, and from once, it’s like you uncovered some hidden meaning!
Enlightenment doesn’t come through shortcuts. God sends it your way when you start genuinely seeking meaning.
It can also be tied to your faith.
God has a way of reaching out to souls that had spent years doubting Him.
10. Feeling Discouraged
Satan’s influence sometimes comes in the form of discouragement.
He leads you to feel like nothing is worth the effort. Even the things that felt possible start feeling hopeless.
You get it in your head that you’re too far behind; that everyone else has life figured out except for you.
A discouraged person stops moving. They stop praying and hoping.
It’s a slow defeat. It doesn’t come in a single moment, but through gradual self-abandonment.
If you notice a thought pattern that leaves you completely unmotivated, question it.
Growth can be humbling, but it’s never hopeless.
11. Feeling Encouraged
Encouragement is pure divine influence! It doesn’t keep you blind to your troubles, but helps you see that you can succeed in spite of them.
God’s encouragement makes you more resilient. It helps you stop avoiding the difficulties, and instead, leads you to face them directly.
When you start doubting yourself, thinking there’s nothing else you can do, He reaches out to remind you that you’ve got fight left in you.
Our relationship with Him is mutual; we believe in Him, but He anche believes in us!
There’s no flattery or delusion to this encouragement. It’s pure truth!
12. Worry
Chronic worry is tricky because Satan presents it to us as responsibility.
His influence leads you to believe you are the problem, to always look for flaws in tutto ciò che fate.
It’s a trap, and he uses it to keep your mind focused on what ifs instead of possibilities.
Worry rarely produces solutions. It keeps your mind clouded, always overthinking.
Worry that doesn’t steal your peace and helps you make wiser choices is another thing entirely.
But if you find yourself constantly spiraling, it must be questioned.
Ask yourself why you’re beating yourself up over something that might not even happen.
13. Obsession
Obsession is a more intense form of worry, and it’s extremely exhausting. Satan influences your obsession when he wants you to waste your energy on the wrong things.
Whether you obsess over an idea or a person, the obsession overtakes your mind until you can’t focus on anything else.
Your life and well-being suffer while you’re stuck in this loop.
It also makes you compulsive. In an obsessed state, people are capable of saying and doing cruel things!
Freedom doesn’t come from thinking harder about things.
Obsession is Satan’s way of keeping you tied down, unwilling to reach out to God or other people.
You’re stuck in this bubble, and you don’t even know you need to get out.
14. Conviction
God convicts you, and I know it doesn’t sound nice.
However, His influence is there to help you. This conviction might look like deserved self-criticism, when your actions don’t reflect your morals.
He is a judge, but He is just.
Harmful self-criticism that holds you back doesn’t come from Him.
God doesn’t want you to form an identity around shame. He simply calls you to fix the mistakes you already know you made.
This is completely positive because it reminds you that the mistake isn’t who you are, as long as you decide to do something about it.
15. Feeling Condemned
On the other hand, condemnation attacks who you are.
Conviction reminds you that you’ve done something wrong, while Satan’s influence tells you that you sono wrong.
It doesn’t offer redemption or another chance.
There’s only self-doubt. You’re left feeling as though there’s no chance or reason to keep going, to work on yourself.
Shame that comes with condemnation ruins people’s lives.
Your failures shouldn’t leave you feeling worthless. It’s human to sin and make mistakes.
It’s also human to grow, no matter what.
A little Aquarius, devoted to writing and embroidery. Through my writing, I hope to empower readers to align with their true selves and navigate life’s mysteries with confidence.