God made us emotional beings, housed in a body with a cognitive brain that thinks and an emotional brain that simultaneously “feels.”
Beloved in Christ, God not only understands our emotions, but He created us with physical brains… that automatically have them.
Many faithful and mature children of God (e.g., Moses, Elijah, Job, and David) experienced emotional suffering from “mental health” challenges. I wonder if we have laments in Job and other places of Scripture (like the Psalms) to show us that God compassionately understands our “feelings” of suffering by including them in His inspired Word.
But He also came to earth to live in a body like ours, incarnated as God the Son, fully experiencing emotions as we do, yet in a sinless life.
Jesus’ emotions over sin’s unbelief and pride
He looked around at them in anger…deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts (Mk. 3:5 ESV).
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant (Mk. 10 ESV).
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables (Jn. 2:15 ESV).
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it (Lk. 19:41 ESV).
Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (Jn. 13:21 ESV).
Jesus’ emotions over this fallen world of sin and the resulting suffering
“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Mk. 14:34 ESV).
Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (Jn. 11:35-36 ESV).
I’ve learned that emotion is not sin or lack of faith; our sinless Savior had them.
So, we can freely share how we feel with our heavenly Father…so that we don’t sin!
Jesus did!
Hard, ongoing, perhaps lifelong suffering brings relentless waves of emotion, doesn’t it?
Our Suffering Servant, our Savior, is right there with us in our every embodied emotion, our longing for relief, and our groans of emotional pain.
Being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:44 ESV).
O that closer we could cleave
To thy bleeding, dying breast!
Give us firmly to believe,
And to enter into rest;
Lord increase, increase our faith;
Make us faithful unto death.
(“Lord, we Lie Before Thy Feet,” Hart, J., 1872)
Bringing our emotions to the feet of Jesus when we’re tempted to sin as we suffer
So, let’s allow our emotions to bring us to Jesus, to point us to Jesus, even to drive us to Jesus. Let’s lie before His feet and groan. Let’s sit at the foot of the cross and hear His groans in our place.
Let’s bring our groans to the One who groans with us, preventing a hardened heart, a strong temptation of sin when we suffer.
Make thy mighty wonders known;
Let us see thy sufferings plain;
Let us hear thee sigh and groan,
Till we sigh and groan again;
Rend, O rend the vail between;
Open wide the bloody scene.
Let’s bring our every emotion to the One who also needed to honestly pour out His emotions to our Father every day of His earthly life of suffering.
He suffered far more than we ever could…for our own sin.
Lord, we lie before thy feet;
Look on all our deep distress;
Thy rich mercy may we meet;
Clothe us with thy righteousness;
Stretch forth thy almighty hand;
Hold us up, and we shall stand.
Bringing our emotions to the feet of Jesus, receiving comfort in our affliction
As we continually tell our Lord how we feel throughout the day,
hearing Him speak back to us through His Spirit’s illumination of His Word,
we realize we’re mysteriously connected to Jesus in His suffering.
What a comfort to our hurting hearts when we know this is His way for us, resisting temptation to sin.
We discover that our
Father of mercies and God of all comfort…comforts us in all our affliction (2 Cor. 1:3-4)…
just as He comforted our Savior.
Let us trust thee evermore;
Every moment on thee call,
For new life, new will, new power;
Let us trust thee, Lord, for all;
May we nothing know beside
Jesus, and him crucified.
Material adapted from Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle, © 2022
A healing playlist, bringing our emotions to Jesus, lying before His feet
Lately, my emotions have been all over the place, for suffering is relentless. Oh, how our Lord understands the weight. So, this week’s music therapy-inspired worship music playlist gift helps us both in bringing our emotions to Jesus (there may be healing tears as we sing), to sing God’s mercies and comfort to us in Scripture and songs that echo its truths (more healing tears…His peace, rest, life, and power to endure faithfully).
I’m praying it will help you too, as we both groan…with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
If this might bless you, sign up below, or perhaps other resources of our ministry might help?
To hear Scripture devotional with calming hymn playing, click here for YouTube podcast.
Prayer and music therapy podcast of Scripture and music for any chronic illness (including those of mental health) and pain
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Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character in Our Suffering
