Inside Out
About a month and a half ago, we showed the movie "Inside Out" at the church as a family fun event. The movie is an animated movie about a ten year-old girl named Riley who struggles with her emotions during a difficult time in her life. The movie explores the importance of recognizing, validating, and processing through our own complex and constantly changing emotions. It was a good movie choice for everyone who came. I think we'd all agree that whether we're ten or 80, emotions are a hard thing to control. They rise quickly. They go to our deepest parts. They can overwhelm us at times. For me, the recent weeks and months have been filled with a lot of emotion. From joy and laughter with family and friends, to fear and anxiety of difficult situations, to anger and frustration from things not going the way I would like, to sorrow and sadness with loss and disappointment. My emotions have run the gamut recently. I suspect some of you would say the same.
Our God is an emotional God. He is moved and reacts to things that happen. We see this in Jeremiah 8:21 where it says, “For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.” We also see it in the life of Jesus. In John 11:35, Jesus weeps as He approaches the tomb of Lazarus. The Lord of heaven and earth experiences the grief, pain, sorrow, and suffering of human loss. You and I have been created in His image. We are emotional beings. Our emotions are part of who we are. God gave us this range of feelings as a reflection of who He is.
Like Riley, I'm learning it's important that I recognize, accept, and work through my emotions which is not easy. To learn not to deny what we're feeling, whether pain, sadness, anger or joy, but manage our emotions so that they don't manage us. Especially for emotions that run very deep, one way is to share them with others to receive love and support. The other, of course, is to bring our thoughts and feelings to God. For He created "our inmost being" (Psalm 139:13), emotions and all, and He gives us the Holy Spirit to work through whatever we're feeling. In this way, we might draw closer to Him and express our emotions appropriately.
God Bless,
Pastor Darren
