The Emotional Life

Or when He makes His final trip to Jerusalem…

But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry. “I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. Luke 19:41–42 (New Living Translation)

Is it wrong to feel sad? Is it wrong to get mad? To be depressed? To grieve? Of course not…but we do need to find safe places to do that. That’s where a circle of friends who are pursuing Jesus becomes critical, who can bring the power of the Spirit into the place where we’ll be vulnerable.

There’s been a bit of a Catch-22 in all this: when one part of our one life is out of whack, it totally affects how we connect in honest and transparent and encouraging ways with each other. And yet, at the same time, we need each other to carry us out of our personal weak places. There’s a symbiotic relationship that is critical: the community needs me…and I need the community. We really need each other…for the strength to take the risk of being vulnerable. And Jesus can only really heal us as much as we’ll admit we need Him.

And so, as we sit back and listen to this song, think of the areas in your life where the dashboard light has been blinking. Will you allow Jesus to go below the surface? Will you allow Jesus to go to the places that are hidden?

I want to sternly warn you of something. In your journey toward emotional health, don’t you dare say, “I’ve done too much, gone too far, been too broken for God to heal. There is too much shame, too much guilt for Him to love me.”

When Matthew wrote his eyewitness account of Jesus, he often described Jesus having a particular emotion for hurting people. Five times he writes, Jesus “had compassion”. After Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, Matthew reminded his readers of a 600-year-old prophecy about the Messiah who would come: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…” (Matthew 12:20 Today’s New International Version)

You know, reeds were used to make all sorts of things in that culture. You got a reed that’s bent or bruised?—Toss it away! You can find plenty more along the riverbank where that came from. You got a lamp with a damp wick? Throw it out! It’s easy to get another wick. That’s cheap.

But that’s not how your God operates. He won’t toss you aside. He uses the bruised reed; in His hands He can redeem anything. He won’t snuff out the wick that’s lost its flame. He can make it blaze again. This is the God who designed emotions…and the God of compassion.