“The beauty of David and the Psalms is the permission to feel it all. David had full confidence that God could handle all his emotions, even the ones that caused him to doubt that God is good and that God still loves him. . . . [David] feels safe enough with God to wrestle it all out! Do you?”- Jennifer Allen
In Chapter 6 (“Created to Connect”) of Untangle Your Emotions, Jennifer Allen underscores that God built emotions to connect us to what is most important and Who is most important. Thus, God placed emotions inside us for the purpose of drawing us near to Him, to trust Him. Because, the author illustrates, take away:
- the childlike fear and we lose our childhood inclination to pull close and ask Him for help.
- excitement at an incredible meal and we forfeit our awe and wonder at God’s gifts.
- hope and we never look at heaven.
- peace and we never find rest in God.
Above all, Jennifer stresses, stories of people who worked out their hope, truth, and freedom with their emotions fill the Bible. For example, the apostle Paul once hated Christians and murdered them. Yet, Jesus turned Paul’s extreme emotion to impassioned grace. And Paul used that fervor to reach the world with the hope of Jesus.
Therefore, Jennifer offers compassionate insight and hope. She writes:
“Something about emotions is connected to our thoughts, but equally true is that they’re also different somehow. Maybe you feel like you are staring at an ocean of emotions, wondering how you could ever get across. All the hope and grief, joy and anxiety, unshakable memories both good and painful. How on earth do you cross? And the closing in on you is life . . .
I’m here to remind you that you are not standing on that shore alone . . . that God is near. He’s right there beside you. He can do a miracle here.”
Today’s question: What Bible verses acknowledge permission to feel it all? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Our ultimate security”
