Repression is not a part of God's will for you.

God never intended for us to live a repressed life. Jesus is our model on how to cope with life's challenges. He never ignored issues, but faced them and overcame. So why do we avoid coping with issues in life? Well, on one hand, it's a normal to pull away from that which causes us pain. If I were to ask you to hold your hand to a hot flame till it burned, you wouldn't do it. Why? Because you're wired to avoid pain.

But not all pain is bad. For instance, if you had a flesh wound you'd need to keep it clean and protected in order for it to heal. Cleaning the wound causes pain, yet, the results of that pain are positive.

The same holds true for our emotional wounds. God wired our mind for balance - a state called homeostasis. Regardless if our wounds are physical or emotional in nature, the healing process is still very much the same. We need to flush it out, then keep it clean and allow time for healing. While the pain associated in the healing process might be excruciating, it is important for us to endure for the sake of our health.

Repressing (i.e. avoiding) the pain involved with our emotional wounds is like placing a bandage over a flesh wound that has not been cleansed. In such cases, our actions will breed infection and healing will be stymied. It is possible that we will become sickened by the infection.

God has good plans for us. In order to live-out those plans, we need to be healthy and functional. While we might have been wounded emotionally, we nonetheless need to face reality and begin the process of cleansing so that we can experience healing and develop wholeness.

Misery Loves Company

It has been said that misery loves company. This assertion tends to be more true than not. We don't like to suffer in silence. There is a very real need each of us has to be loved. How others respond to our pain is important in the fulfillment of this need. In the last few posts, I've focused on suffering. Why do we suffer? Where is our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, omniloving God in such times?

Long before Christ was born, it was foretold that He would be known as "...a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief..." (Isaiah 53:3). Funny how this concept offers comfort to us when we feel afflicted. Does our Creator care that we suffer? Yes - just look to the cross. But don't linger there more than necessary - look beyond the cross to the empty tomb. Next, turn your gaze to the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ! Then you will be able to embrace your pain in the company of the Man of Sorrows, there you will no long suffer in silence, but weep with the One who is well acquainted with grief. Oh the love!

More Thoughts on Suffering

Okay - so yesterday I blogged about Job coming to see God's splendor through his suffering. Splendor - an interesting word, meaning: great light or luster; brilliance. But I like this definition better - something grand or magnificent. We find in chapter nine of Job, that he already understood God was omnipotent. Yet, through his suffering, Job comes to see God not just as all-powerful, but as his Redeemer. Ah, now we get to the crux! An all powerful God might still be an impersonal God - but a redeeming God equates to love, grace, and mercy! It is for this reason that Job states, "...now my eye sees you..." (Job 42:5). Through his suffering, Job comes to experience his Creator in a very real, intensely loving way. I believe this is what we all long for - a deeply intimate love relationship with our heavenly Father. Those who establish such a connection will be blessed and experience the abundant life of love, joy, and peace.

What say you?

Making Sense of Suffering

So after it was said and done, after loosing everything, Job states the following, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." (Job 42:3, NIV). Mind you, these words were spoken prior to the restoration of his losses. Wow! Job clung to his faith in a just Creator, and in the end God revealed Himself to be exactly that. Standing in His glory, Job came to understand the amazing love, grace, and mercy of the Lord.

What sense have you been able to make of your own suffering?

Coping with Anger

Consider Paul's instructions to the Ephesians, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, do not give the devil a foothold." (Eph. 4:26, 27 NIV). The apostle's initual use of the word "anger" is rendered in the Greek as orgizo, which involves the expression of strong displeasure. However, in his second use of the word, Paul employs the word parorgismos, meaning - rage. When we allow the sun to go down on our anger, the displeasing emotions can manifest into rage - which all too often equates to varying degrees of violence. In effect, our attempt to deny and repress anger is a much a sin as lashing out in rage. Our best bet is to: affirm - assert - affirm - re-assert, then, if need be - detach in love.